Katrina
by Hot4Garrett
Summary: Jack meets Katrina and whatnot ensues...Probably more sex than there should be but if you don't want to read it then don't.....and don't say I didn't warn you...Please Read and Review: I do not own Four Brothers, only my own characters.
1. They Meet

Chapter 1

"Who is that?" Jack asked Bobby.

"Who, Fairy?" Bobby teased.

"The new waitress."

"That's Katrina. She started a week ago but she wouldn't be interested in you."

"Whatever," Jack said as he sipped his beer. He continued to watch the new waitress move around the room, delivering beers and avoiding the groping hands of guys too drunk to realize that she wasn't interested. Katrina had chestnut hair with red and gold highlights that showed when she walked by the lights hanging from the ceiling. She was too far away to see what color her eyes were but her figure was perfect. She was skinny but with curves in all the right places and she was the tallest woman Jack had ever seen, maybe even as tall as he was.

"Hey Katrina, two more beers over here and move your sweet ass."

"Shut up Bobby. I'll get there when I get there." I walked towards the bar. "Jackass" I mumbled under my breath while avoiding yet another attempted grab at my ass. The money working at Joe's was good but not good enough to deal with drunks every night.

"Here's your beers, Bobby." I said as I glared at him and turned to walk away.

"Don't leave yet, you haven't met Fairy." Bobby said as he pointed toward Jack, walking back from the bathroom.

"Hi. You must be Jack" I smiled as I wiped my hand on my apron and stuck it out to shake.

"Hey. How'd you know who I am?" Jack asked.

"You are the only Mercer that I haven't met yet, so it wasn't hard to figure." I smiled at him and turned to go. "Nice to meet you." I called over my shoulder as I went to get more beers from the back.

"God. Does she have a boyfriend?" Jack watched as I swished my hips maybe a little bit more than strictly necessary walking away from their table.

"Why Fairy? You thinkin' of going straight?" Bobby smirked as Jack bristled.

"Shut up Bobby!" Jack exclaimed as he took another swig of beer.

"Hey Bobby, where's the Greygoose?" I shouted from the back room, frustrated that I wasn't finding what I was looking for.

"Behind the Coors." Bobby called, glancing in my direction.

"It's not there." I whined, becoming even more annoyed at bobby's apparent lack of interest.

"I'm coming. I guess break time's over, little brother." Bobby said as he patted Jack on the shoulder in apology. He got up and walked into the back.

"I can't find the stupid vodka and that Councilman idiot insists that it be the Greygoose." I said, ranting, when Bobby walked into the store-room.

"I put it behind the Coors so no one would get to it." Bobby said as he retrieved it from behind the bottles.

"I'm sorry. I didn't see it."

"Don't worry about it. Hey, you got a boyfriend?" Bobby looked at me questioningly.

"Why? You gonna ask me out?" I smirked at him, knowing that I wasn't the kind of girl that he normally went after. My boobs weren't big enough and I wasn't vapid enough to tempt him. Bobby was the kind of guy who only went after one-night stands. He was slightly commitment-phobic if you asked me but…

"No." Bobby said, interrupting my train of thought. "The Fairy just about pissed himself when he saw you walk by and I thought I might help him out a little seeing as how he doesn't know how to deal with women." Bobby smirked when he saw me blush.

"Thanks Bobby. I'll keep that in mind." I smiled as I walked past him to go deliver more beers.

Throughout the night I kept seeing Jack staring at me and looking down, guiltily, when I caught his eye. Finally, it was time to close down the bar. I walked up to Jack and smiled. "Here's my number. Call me sometime… soon." I handed him a slip of paper with my number on it and walked out the door to go home.

"Bobby, did you tell Kat anything?" Jack asked suspiciously, looking at the number in his hand before programming it into his cell phone.

"Now why would I do something like that?" Bobby raised an eyebrow in question. "I know you don't swing that way so I wouldn't get her hopes up like that. Besides, how do you know I don't want her?"

"She's not your type and would you quit it with the gay shit already?" Jack growled.


	2. The First Date

**Chapter 2**

I got home from class and when I checked, I saw there was a message blinking on the machine. I squeaked and ran across the room to get to the phone. I pushed the button with fingers crossed and smiled when I heard Jack's purring voice.

_Hey. It's Jack from last night. You told me to call you so I'm calling. Call me back._

I squeaked and grabbed the phone to call him.

"Hello?"

"Hi. Is Jack there?"

"JACK…..It's one of your fucking groupies on the phone. Get your lazy ass down here."

"Angel. That's not very nice. I am NOT a groupie."

"Katrina? I didn't know that was you. What you callin' for Jack for?" Angel asked, suspiciously.

"Just never you mind." I grinned at his huff of indignation.

Jack glared at Angel as he grabbed the phone from him. "If that is Kat, I swear I will kill you" Jack hissed as he put the phone up to his ear.

"Don't kill him Jack. He didn't know it was me."

"Whatever. What's up?"

"Not much. What are you doing tonight?"

"Nothin'. Why?" Jack smiled to himself.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight and maybe watch a movie?" I waited with bated breath to hear what he would say.

"What time?"

"Be here at 6 or so. I live on South Cherry….the apartment over the café."

"Sure. I'll be there."

"See ya." I smiled as I hung up the phone. I jumped up and down and then ran to go take a shower and get ready. I had just stepped out of the shower when Sarah knocked on the bathroom door.

"Are you almost done in there? I have to pee."

"Just a second." I wrapped my towel around me and walked out of the bathroom.

"Why the mid-afternoon shower?"

"I have a date. Which reminds me…..would you mind going over to David's tonight?" I smiled my "pretty please" smile.

"Just your luck, that's where I was going tonight anyway. I'll be out of your hair for the whole weekend." Sarah grinned at my sigh of relief.

"Thank you so much."

"Who is coming over?"

"Jack." I smirked as I waited for that to sink in.

"Jack? Jack MERCER? How on earth did you manage that?" I could hear the jealous note in her voice. We had both been to The Spares' most recent concert at the Asylum and had drooled over his perfectly messy hair.

"Yep. Jack Mercer. I met him at the bar last night and gave him my number. He called today and I called him back after class and he is coming over for dinner and a movie." By this point I was grinning from ear to ear. Sarah smiled and patted me on the shoulder.

"Have a good night! Try not to wake the neighbors." she grinned as she disappeared into the bathroom.

I walked down the hall and into my room. I towel dried my hair and put on the jeans and tank top that I had laid out earlier. The jeans were loose and faded because they were my favorite pair. The tank top was a black spaghetti strap with a v-neck that showed off my chest to perfection. I looked at the clock and squeaked when I realized that it was ten to 6. I walked down the hall and put on the Spares' CD that I got from the last concert that I went to. The doorbell rang and I went to answer it. Sarah beat me to it and opened the door.

"You must be the infamous Jack Mercer." Sarah said as she quirked an eyebrow at him.

"At your service, milady." Jack pantomimed taking off his hat and bowing to Sarah and me.

"Sarah was just leaving." I said as I gently shoved her towards the door.

"All right I get it. I'm going. Ya'll behave yourselves." Sarah said as she walked out the door leaving us staring at each other and smiling.

"Wow. You clean up nice." I said as I went to take the bottle of wine that he had brought. "You didn't have to bring anything."

"I know but Ma always said to never go to someone's house empty-handed." He brought his other hand out from behind his back and had a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers in it.

"Oh Jack! Those are beautiful." I smiled as he handed them to me.

"Pretty flowers for a pretty lady." He grinned when he saw me blush.

"I'll take them and put them in some water. You really didn't have to do that. It's too much." I smiled at him and he grinned back at me.

"Is that my CD that you are playing?" Jack questioned, smugly.

"Yeah. I love the Spares. You guys are awesome. I mean, I play guitar but nowhere near as good as you do."

"You play? What kind of guitar do you have? Is it acoustic or electric?" Jack's eyes sparked with excitement.

"Wow. You sound like a little kid in a candy store. You are so excited. I play both acoustic and electric. I have a 69 Fender Strat and a 75 Martin."

"Can I see them sometime?" Jack gave me that puppy-dog look, lips pouting perfectly, and I laughed.

"Go ahead. They are sitting on stands in the living room. Help yourself but be gentle with my ladies. They aren't used to rough handling." He grinned at my innuendo.

"I promise I won't hurt them" he called as he disappeared down the hall towards the living room.

I laughed as I walked into the kitchen and finished the last minute dinner preparations. I pulled the lasagna out of the oven and put it in the middle of the table. I opened the wine and poured us both a glass then walked down the hall to go get Jack. I laughed when I saw him sitting on the floor cradling the Fender on his lap and looking at it like it was the most amazing thing he had ever seen.

"Do you like her?" I smiled when he jumped.

"She's beautiful……just like her owner." He smiled as he set her back on her stand and came over to me. "Do you have any idea how hot it is that you play guitar and look absolutely gorgeous doing it?"

"How do you know that I look gorgeous doing it?" I smiled up at him and quirked an eyebrow.

"There is a picture of you playing on top of your TV."

"Oh crap! I forgot to put that stupid thing away."

"It's not stupid. It's a really good picture of you."

"Thanks. Maybe we could play together sometime?" I asked, hesitantly.

"I'd like that. Something smells good. What did you make?"

"Lasagna. Are you ready for dinner?"

"Absolutely. It smells really good," he said as he placed his hand on the small of my back and gently pushed me toward the kitchen. I gasped when I felt his fingers brush the small of my back. Just from that one touch I felt tingles from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. I turned to look at him and he smiled at me.

"That's some chemistry, huh?" he asked.

"You felt it too?" I shivered from the intensity of the feeling.

"That lightning bolt that just flashed through me? Yeah, I felt that."

"That's a good description. How about dinner?" I asked, trying to forget just how aroused I was and concentrate on something else.

"Yeah. That sounds like a good idea." We walked into the kitchen and he pulled my chair out for me like a gentleman.

"Why thank you good sir. You better be careful or I might get used to this kind of treatment." I smiled at him and put a large square of lasagna on his plate and a somewhat smaller one on mine. "So tell me a little bit about yourself."

"There's not really much to tell. You already know that I'm in a band and I pretty much just do music all of the time. You've already met my brothers and Ma died about a year ago so you really know almost everything. What about you?"

"I'm studying to become a high school biology teacher. I'm a full-time student and a part-time waitress at Joe's. I sing Karaoke on Thursdays with Sarah and sometimes Joe asks me to sing at work on Fridays, depending on the mood of the crowd."

"Wow. You are a very busy lady. Where am I going to fit in all of this?"

"What? You think that one date qualifies you to be worked in to my already overloaded schedule? I don't think so Mr. Mercer. You have a lot of convincing to do if you think I am going to fit you in on a regular basis." I smiled to take the sting out of my words and Jack laughed.

"I think this is the start of a beautiful relationship. You are already keeping me on my toes. " Jack rose from the table and extended his hand to me. I smiled and took his hand, also rising to my feet.

"So, what movie do you want to watch?" I asked, knowing full well that I was planning on jumping on him before the movie even started. "I just bought Transformers but I don't know if that's your kind of thing or not."

"Transformers sounds cool," he said, sitting down on the couch. I put the movie in and plopped down on the other side of the couch. I hadn't turned any lights on so it was pitch black in the room except for the glow of the television screen.

"You are too far away over there. Why don't you move over here so we can keep each other warm?" Jack asked, patting the couch cushion next to him.

"Alright I guess, but only because you are cold." I winked at him and scooted over right next to him. He fake yawned really big and put his arm around me. I snuggled into his side and laid my head on his shoulder. I could feel every place that his body touched mine and I instantly felt like my body was on fire. I could feel the tingling in the pit of my stomach that signaled the intensification of my arousal. I looked up at him and smiled just as he looked down and our lips were only a few inches apart. He leaned down and brushed a feather light kiss across my lips. I sighed in appreciation and he kissed me softly on the mouth. The kiss started out light but quickly became heated and by the time he looked up we were both breathing raggedly and thoroughly aroused.

"Wow. That was unexpected." I said, trying to catch my breath.

"Really? I've been looking forward to doing that since I met you."

"Me too. I guess what I mean is that I didn't expect to be this turned on this quickly. If you aren't careful Mr. Mercer I might just have to jump you right here."

"Hmmm. I like the sound of that." Jack leaned in to kiss me again and I reached my hands up and ran them through his hair, messing it up even more than it already was. He groaned and deepened the kiss, wrapping his arms around my back and trying to undo my bra. He moaned when he realized that I wasn't wearing one and the only thing between us was my very thin tank top and his t-shirt. I let go of his head and ran my hands lightly down his chest, not stopping until I reached the hem of his shirt. I pulled it off over his head and sighed when I saw his perfect chest and abs. He reached in between us and pulled off my tank top. He trailed hot kisses down my throat and onto my breasts, teasing and nibbling on each one until I was writhing with need.

"Let's move this to my room." I whispered in his ear, trying to stand up.

"Alright." He said as he picked me up and walked down the hall. "Which room is yours?"

"The one on the right." I said as I continued to lick and suck on his neck and ear. He groaned when I nibbled on his ear. He stood me up next to the bed and undid my button and zipper before sliding my jeans down my legs and throwing them across the room. "No underwear?" he asked when he saw that I was naked underneath the jeans.

"I was kinda hoping to seduce you when you came over tonight." I smiled and undid his jeans. They dropped to the floor and he kicked them away. "No underwear Mr. Mercer?"

"I was kinda hoping to seduce you when I came over tonight." We stepped towards each other and our naked bodies touched for the first time. He was already rock hard and when he touched me, he throbbed against my abdomen.

"Happy to see me, are you?" I smirked and groped him.

"Oh God, that feels good. Your hand is so hot." He moaned and rested his head against my shoulder. I bit his neck lightly and rubbed my hand up and down the full length of him. He grabbed my hands and brought them to his lips one at a time and placed a kiss on each of my palms. He picked me up again and put me down in the middle of my king size bed. He lay down next to me and ran his knuckles up and down my side.

"You are so beautiful. You should never be allowed to wear clothes." He kissed me again and positioned himself between my thighs, nudging them apart with one knee. He reached between us and rubbed the pad of his thumb against the center of my heat. I moaned in appreciation and bucked against his hand.

"I need you inside me…..now" I said. We both moaned when he buried himself to the hilt in one swift motion. He began moving inside of me and quickly sped up his thrusts. I felt him swell inside me and I followed him over the edge into the abandon of pure bliss.


	3. The Morning After and Whatnot

**Disclaimer: I do not own Four Brothers, only my own original characters. I also do not own the lyrics of the songs that I randomly include in the story. Please Read and Review. I will try to respond if you feel like leaving a comment.**

**XXXXX**

"Good morning Katrina." I groaned and opened my eyes to see Jack leaning over the bed with his nose pressed against mine.

"Oh God. What time is it?" I asked as I tried to sit up.

"Only 6:30. You don't have to get up yet." Jack smiled and placed a kiss on my forehead before gently pushing me back down on the bed.

"No I don't have to but now that I'm awake I might as well get up." I smiled at him and made my way to the bathroom. After brushing my teeth and washing my face I made my way back to the bed, noticing for the first time the pleasant soreness in between my legs. I smiled when I saw that Jack had lain back down in bed and was curled on his side, watching me walk in the room.

"Like what you see?"

"Very much. Get back in bed…..please?" Jack winked at me and patted the bed next to him.

"Since you asked so nicely…….." I climbed back in bed and crawled right up next to him. "Is that better?" I asked as I pushed my back up against his broad chest and snuggled my butt up against his hips.

"Much better." He sighed and buried his face in my neck.

"So what are your plans for today?"

"I'm going to go home and brag to everyone about this" he exclaimed.

I threw an elbow back into his ribs and tried to wriggle away from him. He wrapped his arms even tighter around me and refused to let me go.

"I was just kidding. Actually, I have band practice at 6 or so and then we are playing at a party on 8th and Main. You should come. It would be fun." He looked at me imploringly.

"As much fun as that would be, I have to study. I'm sorry. Maybe next time?" I placed a kiss on his cheek and sighed.

"What?" Jack asked, concerned.

"Are we going to talk about what happened last night?" I rolled over in his arms to look into his eyes.

"Well, we had amazing sex…..4 times and cuddled all night long. The chemistry between us is unbelievable….what more could you want?" He smiled and hugged me.

"I guess I just don't want you thinking that you are obligated to me or anything…you know. Like I'm not expecting you to be my boyfriend or anything but…well….. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't normally do this kind of thing but that I'm not expecting anything from you after only having known you for a day."

"Kat."

"Yeah….."

"Stop talking. I love spending time with you. Let's just play it by ear and see how things go."

"Ok. I'm good with that. I gotta get up and head to the library to study."

"Alright. I guess that means I need to leave?"

"Feel free to take a shower or whatever first." I said as I crawled out of bed and put on jeans and a sweatshirt. "I'm going to go make breakfast. It'll be ready in about twenty minutes." I walked out the bedroom door and down the hall to the kitchen to whip up some pancakes and sausage, my normal Saturday morning treat.

"Wow. That smells good." Jack said as he walked in the kitchen with nothing but a towel on.

"Why thank you." I turned to hand him a plate and dropped it when I realized that he was almost totally naked.

"Kat, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I just wasn't expecting to…um…wait….what was I saying?" I stuttered as I continued to stare at his perfectly cut abs and spiky, wet hair.

Jack ignored my stuttering and walked across the room, stopping in front of where I was standing. He wrapped me in his arms and kissed me. "I think breakfast can wait for a little while." He grabbed my hand and led me toward the bedroom.

A half an hour later we were sitting at the kitchen table, enjoying breakfast when my phone rang. "Hello?"

"Kat?"

"Sarah, What's wrong?" I could hear the tears in her voice through the phone and I knew something was not right.

"I broke up with David." Sarah sobbed into the phone.

"Why? What happened?" I said as I got up from the table and walked into the living room to avoid Jack's probing gaze.

"We had sex last night but then this morning he confessed that he had cheated on me with Elizabeth."

"When did he say it happened?" I knew Sarah was devastated because she thought that David was going to be "the one".

"Remember when we went to North Carolina last summer to visit your grandparents? He said that they hooked up then."

"What a prick. Come home and we can talk about it. Okay sweetheart?"

"Alright. I should be there in 15 minutes." Sarah hung up and I sighed as I flipped my phone closed.

I walked back into the kitchen to see that Jack had already cleaned up from breakfast and put the dishes away. "Thanks. You really didn't have to do that." I smiled at him.

"Are you ok?" He looked deeply into my eyes and pulled me into his arms when I shook my head no.

"What's wrong?"

"My best friend's boyfriend cheated on her and she broke up with him last night….well this morning really. The jackass decided to come clean after they slept together last night. God he is such a prick. He was not good for her but she just couldn't see it. Fuck. I'm sorry. It's not really your problem and I shouldn't have said anything." I looked up into his eyes and he brushed a kiss across my lips.

"I'll leave so that you guys have some privacy to talk about stuff. Maybe you'll rethink coming to the party and bring her along. It might cheer her up?"

"I'll ask her and see what she says. Thanks Jack." I said as I led him to the door. He opened it and Sarah was standing there crying.

"Bye Jack. I'll talk to you later." I smiled at him and grabbed Sarah's hand and led her into the apartment.

"Honey, I'm so sorry." I said as I hugged her. She laid her head on my shoulder and cried. Finally she lifted her head and wiped her eyes.

"I should have known something was wrong when he wouldn't look me in the eye this morning. I should have seen this coming. He was always a jerk but I just overlooked it. I'm so stupid."

"You are NOT stupid. What he did was all on him. You are too good for that lousy good for nothing jackass. He treated you like crap and he and Elizabeth deserve each other. She can't keep her legs closed to save her life." At this point I was seriously contemplating going to castrate David. It must have shown on my face because Sarah laughed.

"Don't even think about it. I already kicked him in the balls with my stilettos and left him groaning on the floor cupping himself."

"Good for you. Hey, you wanna go out tonight?" I asked tentatively.

"Where?" Sarah asked suspiciously. "You never want to go out."

"Jack's band is playing tonight at a party and I thought it might be fun to go see them."

"Oh Jack. Oh my God. I totally forgot that he was here last night. Wait, was that him leaving this morning?" Sarah glared at me and then smiled. "You guys so did it didn't you?"

"He was amazing. The fifth time was probably the best." I grinned at her.

"You had sex five times last night? Did you get any sleep at all? Have you seen your neck?" She looked at me through squinted eyes.

"Yes. About an hour and yes."

"So where does that leave you?"

"We are going to play it by ear. We really like spending time with each other but it's too soon to "claim" each other."

"Ok. That's good for you dear. Hey, you want to get ready and go to the library to study before the party?"

"Sure, just give me a couple of minutes to get ready."

"Jack, are you just now getting home from Katrina's?" Jerry asked as Jack walked through the door.

"Yeah. Why?" He quirked an eyebrow at Jerry.

"You be careful with that girl. She's a good one and we all know your track record with women." Jerry said.

"Lay off man. I know she's different." Jack threw himself into the chair next to the TV and was asleep in seconds.

"She must have worn him out. I never would have thought that Katrina would go for Jack." Angel said as he smirked at Jerry.

"Yeah well. Even pretty girls sometimes have a bad day." They both laughed and continued watching the Redwings hockey game on TV.

Jack's phone rang five minutes later and he jerked awake with a start. "Hello?" he mumbled groggily into the phone.

"Oh Jack. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's ok Kat. What's up?" Jack asked, trying to shake himself awake.

"I just wanted to let you know that Sarah and I will be at the party tonight. See you there."

"See ya later, Kat." Jack flipped the phone closed and sat there staring at it for a few moments.

"What? Do you think it's going to grow legs and walk off or something?" Angel asked, laughing.

"Huh?" Jack asked, shaking his head as if to clear it.

"Dude, you got it bad. You've known her for what, two days and you already can barely remember your own name?" Jerry said, grinning.

"Shut up. I'm going to bed." Jack said, getting up and stalking towards the stairs.

"I thought thats where you were all of last night?" Angel smirked at him. Jack flipped him the bird and walked up the stairs.

Angel and Jerry were still laughing when Bobby walked in.

"What's so funny?" Bobby asked as he sat in the chair that Jack had recently vacated.

"Jack just got home from Katrina's." Jerry said.

"Just now? Huh…I never would have thought that he was Kat's type." Bobby shook his head. "There's no accounting for taste, I guess. I just hope she knows what she's gotten herself into with that one."

"Maybe she'll be the one to get him straightened out." Jerry suggested.

"Yeah maybe." Bobby said as they all concentrated on the game.

"Are you almost out of the bathroom?" I yelled as Sarah finally opened the door. "Took you long enough. What were you doing in there, painting the Mona Lisa?"

"Sorry, I just wanted to look perfect tonight, you know, in case I meet Mr. Right." Sarah smiled and walked down the hall to her room.

I took a shower, making sure that I was as clean and hair-free as possible before turning off the water and starting on my hair. I straightened it and then did my makeup. I got out of the bathroom and walked down the hall to my room to get dressed. I put on my black skinny jeans, red tank top with little black skulls in the bottom corner and my favorite pair of red plaid flats. For some reason my eyes looked green tonight and I smiled thinking about what Jack would say when he saw me.

"Are you ready to go?" I called to Sarah as I walked down the hall and into the kitchen to grab my keys and some money for the bar.

"Yeah. What do you think? Does this look alright?" Sarah twirled and her short black skirt flipped up showing her green thong.

"I could have done without the peep show but if you are looking to get laid, it works." I laughed as she stuck her tongue out at me. She actually looked very nice. She had shoulder length blonde hair and emerald green eyes which matched her tube top perfectly. She also had on the highest pair of black stilettos that I had ever seen. "Maybe you might like one of Jack's band-mates. They are rather cute." She giggled.

"Maybe. Let's go." I followed her out of the house and down to my car. As I drove we sang along to the Spares CD I had playing. We got to the bar where Jack was playing and walked inside after giving our name to the security guard at the door.

I scanned the room and saw Jack sitting at a table with two other guys and a moony-eyed girl patting his arm and giggling. A flash of jealousy raced through me. "There he is. Let's go say hi." I walked towards the table and the two guys sitting across from Jack smiled when they saw me. I walked right up behind Jack and pushed my chest up against his back. I leaned my head down next to his and not so gently bit his earlobe.

"Katrina." Jack sighed as he leaned into my chest. "Guys, this is Katrina. Katrina, this is Tim and Aden" he said pointing at the one on the right and then the one on the left.

"Nice to meet you. This is my friend Sarah." I said as I straightened up and smiled at them. We had all ignored the other girl up until she said, "See you later Jack" and stormed off. I sat down in her vacated seat and Aden went to go get a chair for Sarah.

"We are just about to go on so will you ladies save our table?" Jack asked as they all got up to go onstage.

"Sure." I smiled and Jack winked back at me.

Everyone cheered as the guys walked onstage and picked up their instruments. We were to the right of the stage and there was a mosh pit on the left side of the stage with open space in front so that people could stand and listen to them play. The guys started to play through their set and I sang every song with them until they got to the last one. Jack looked at me and winked. "This is a new song dedicated to a very special girl here tonight. She knows who she is."

_Whoa-oh-oh-oh  
(1, 2, 3, 4)_

I feel a hunger  
It's a hunger that tries to keep a man awake at night  
Are you the answer?  
I shouldn't wonder when I can feel you with my appetite

With all this power you're releasing  
It isn't safe to walk the city streets alone  
Anticipation is what I'm feeling  
Let's find the keys and turn this engine on

I can feel you breathe  
I can feel your heart beat faster (faster, faster)

And take me home tonight  
I don't want to let you go till you see the light  
Take me home tonight  
Listen honey  
Its just like Ronnie sang  
"Be my little baby"

I get frightened in all this darkness  
I get nightmares and I hate to sleep alone  
I need some company  
A guardian angel to keep me warm when the cold wind blows!

I can feel you breathe  
I can feel your heart beat faster (faster, faster)

And take me home tonight  
I don't want to let you go till you see the light  
Take me home tonight  
Listen honey  
Its just like Ronnie sang  
"Be my little baby"  
Be my little baby!

I feel a hunger  
It's a hunger (hunger, hunger)  
Whoa!

And take me home tonight  
I don't want to let you go till you see the light  
Take me home tonight  
Listen honey  
Its just like Ronnie sang

Whoa!

And take me home tonight!  
I don't want to let you go till you see the light  
Take me home tonight!  
Listen honey  
Its just like Ronnie sang  
"Be my little baby"

Whoa-oh-oh  
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa  
And take me home tonight  
Whoa!, whoa!

They finished singing and walked off stage to wild applause. They joined us at the table, grinning and sweaty.

"Wow. You guys are really good!" Sarah said as she patted the chair next to her for Aden to sit down.

"Thanks." He smiled at her and sat down. They started talking between themselves and

Tim looked at Jack and me and then at them and announced "I'm gonna go find a chick. See ya'll later."

"Poor guy. Probably felt like a third wheel." I turned to look at Jack who was looking at me very intensely. "What?"

"Nevermind." He growled and stood up.

"Jack, sit down, please? What's wrong?" I figured he was pissed that I hadn't said anything about the song but I didn't want to talk about that in front of everyone.

"Just forget it. I'm going home." He turned to leave and I followed him out the side door.

"Jack……wait." I grabbed his arm. "Jack, I'm sorry that I didn't say anything about your song. It was really awesome." He finally turned to look at me.

"You really liked it?" he asked, tentatively.

"Yes. I love your music anyway but to have you dedicate a song to me……wow." I looked up at him and he saw the tears pooling at the corners of my eyes.

"I wrote it for you. This morning, after I woke up for the third time." He smiled hesitantly.

"Jack, you are amazing. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings but I didn't want the others to hear me gushing. I thought that I would save that until we were alone tonight." I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed my body to his. "I was kinda hoping for a repeat performance of last night." I looked up into his eyes and pulled his face down to mine, kissing him deeply, lingeringly.

"I don't want to be just a two-night stand to you Katrina. If that is all you want from me then I am more than happy for you to have me for as long as you want me but….." he trailed off into silence, looking deeply into my eyes.

"I want you to be more than that to me too Jack. I've never jumped into bed on the first date with a guy……never. You are different than any guy I've ever liked and I want things to be different with you than with the assholes I normally date." I sighed and leaned my head against his chest.

"Katrina?" Jack asked and he lifted my chin with his finger.

"Yes, Jack?"

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Oh Jack. Yes, of course I'll be your girlfriend." I said as I jumped into his arms and wrapped my legs around his waist. "You wanna go back to my place tonight?" I asked.

He smiled and cocked his head to the side, "what about Sarah?"

"I think she will be fine with Aden but I should go tell her that I'm going home." I reluctantly unwrapped my legs and stood up. He grabbed my hand as we walked back inside.

Sarah saw the movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at us. She smiled when she saw that Jack and I were holding hands. "I told you they'd be ok." She said as she punched Aden's shoulder good-naturedly.

"Hey Aden, do you mind giving Sarah a ride home?" Jack asked as he reached for his leather jacket.

"No problem, as long as Sarah doesn't mind." He said, looking at Sarah to judge her reaction.

"Sure. You guys go ahead. You might be done by the time I get home." She smiled as I shrugged.

"Maybe." I said as Jack and I headed out the door to my car.

XXXX

I do not own Hinder, howevermuch I wish that I did.


	4. More whatnot

Chapter 4

"Good morning, handsome," I said as I rolled over and pressed my nose to his. Jack groaned and slowly blinked his eyes open.

"What time is it?" he mumbled, groggily.

"11:00am. I think it's about time to get up." I smiled at him and ran my hands through his already messy hair, messing it up even more.

"You do that any more and I won't let you out of this bed." He purred as he grabbed my hands and pinned them above my head, rolling over on top of me. Just as he leaned down to kiss me, my cell phone started vibrating.

"You aren't going to get that are you?"

"I have to see who it is." I said as he reluctantly rolled off of me. I crawled across the bed and grabbed my phone, answering on the last ring. "Hello?" I questioned, not recognizing the number.

"Kat?"

"Seth?"

"Hey sis. What's up?"

"Umm, stuff. What's up with you?"

"You remember how I said Andrea and I were going to think about going on vacation this summer sometime and you said that you would look after Tori?"

"Yeah….."

"Well, we were wondering if you could do that next week instead."

"For how long?" I asked.

"Two weeks."

"Let me check my schedule and call you back, ok?"

"Sure. We just need to know by tonight."

"Sure Seth, I'll get back to you." I groaned as I hung up the phone and flopped down on the bed with my head buried in Jack's neck.

"Who was that?" Jack asked, curiously.

"My brother, Seth. He and his wife are finally going on their first vacation in ten years and they've asked me to watch their daughter Tori while they are gone. Not only that, it's for two whole weeks. Like I'm not busy enough with everything else I have to do. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother and his family, I just thought that when I agreed to do this that it would be during the summer when I wasn't in class every day. I don't have time for this." I groaned again and buried my head even deeper in his neck.

"How old is Tori?"

"18. She is going through a "Goth" stage and is just really hard to deal with. She locks herself in her room and doesn't come out except for food. I just don't know if I can deal with that for two weeks. She's exactly like I was in high school and I was a hellcat. I guess I'll just have to make the best of it." I sighed in resignation and dialed Seth's number.

"Seth?"

"Kat…..so are you going to do it?"

"Yep. When do you leave?"

"Monday morning at 8 am. Tori will need to be picked up from school at 3:30 so you can move in and get settled before you have to do that. Thanks so much for doing this Kat. We really owe you one."

"I'll be at your house around 7:30 to get the keys and stuff."

"See you then. Love ya sis."

"Love you too Seth." I flipped the phone closed and put it on the night stand next to the bed.

Jack smiled at me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me up against him. "You're doing a good thing for your brother. It won't be so bad. I'll help you keep her entertained."

"You don't have to do that. She's my responsibility. Thanks anyway though." I smiled and pressed a kiss to his throat.

"I know I don't have to but I want to. Besides, I figure we won't have much time to see each other while you're taking care of her so this is almost totally selfish on my part."

"Thanks Jack. You're the best. Now, where were we?" I asked, grinning at him mischievously and flicking his nipple with my fingernail. "Oh yes, I remember. I was just about to jump you again."

I ran my hands through his hair and down his chest, teasing him with my fingernails. I kissed his lips and trailed hot wet kisses down his throat to his nipples, nibbling on each one in turn. He moaned in appreciation and writhed under me. Just as I was about to impale myself on him, his phone rang. He groaned and thrust me down onto him while groping blindly for his cell phone. I quirked my head at him questioningly and he thrust his hips up to indicate that I was supposed to keep riding him while he dealt with whatever it was. "Sofi? What do you want?" Jack growled into the phone.

"I was just wondering how many places to set at the table for dinner."

"Oh yeah. It is Sunday isn't it? Set an extra place. Bye." I had slowly stroked him while he was talking and once he flipped the phone closed he threw it across the room and slammed me up and down on him 4 more times before we both came, screaming each others names.

"Wow. That had to have been one of the best yet." I purred as I buried my head in his neck and pressed my body against his.

"Yeah I think so." He looked at me curiously.

"What?" I asked when I couldn't stand him staring at me anymore.

"Would you mind having dinner with my family today? I promise they won't bite." He gave me his best puppy dog look and I laughed.

"You know I can't say no to that face. I'll have dinner with your family. I need to shower and whatnot first but before that I want breakfast." I kissed him one more time and got out of bed, putting on a short silk robe that hit me mid-thigh and walked out of the bed room. I walked down the hall to the kitchen and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Aden and Sarah making out in front of a pan of burning eggs.

"Hey, your eggs are burning." I grinned when they jumped apart and then relaxed when they realized it was only me.

"God, Kat. You scared the crap out of me." Sarah took a couple of breaths to try to calm down while Aden dumped the eggs into the trash can.

"Sorry. I couldn't resist. You want me to make some pancakes or something? Ya'll obviously shouldn't be allowed anywhere anything we want to be edible." I smirked as Sarah glared at me.

"Sure, that sounds good." Aden said. "What can I do to help?"

"You can start by cleaning up that pan and then if you still want to help, you can set the table." I mixed up a batch of pancakes and once they were done cooking I filled everyone's plates. Just then, Jack walked into the kitchen wearing his jeans and nothing else.

"Oh hey Aden. Didn't expect to see you this morning. Hi Sarah." Jack said, sitting down and starting in on his stack of pancakes. "Just as good as they were yesterday. Thanks Katrina." He smiled at me and I blushed.

"That's the first time I've ever seen her blush at a compliment. Good job Jack." Sarah said and grinned at me.

"Hey, before I forget, you all want to come have dinner with the Mercer clan?" Jack asked as he looked at Aden and Sarah.

"Actually, I have to work. Otherwise I would. Sorry." Sarah said.

"I have an appointment to get a new tattoo, sorry."

"That's right. You're starting that Dragon you've been talking about for months now aren't you?"

"Yeah. Otherwise I'd be there."

"Dinner starts at 4:30 so we have a couple of hours to kill before we have to leave." Jack winked at me and I laughed.

"Insatiable aren't you? We can't. I have to finish up a paper for my Educational Psychology class that's due on Monday." I said as I got up to start cleaning up the kitchen.

"Don't worry about the dishes. I'll clean up so you have more time for your paper." Jack got up from the table and took the dishes from me.

"I'll help." Aden said as he walked to the sink and began doing the dishes.

"Thanks." I said as I walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. I set up my laptop and was quickly absorbed into writing my paper. In what seemed like minutes later Jack walked up behind me, wrapped his arms around my chest and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Hey. What's up?" I asked as I leaned into his hug.

"I just thought you should know it's 3:30 and as beautiful as you look in only that robe, I would really rather not share this with everyone." I squeaked and tried to jump up from the chair. Jack pushed me down into the chair. "You have 45 minutes before we have to leave so don't stress out on me, ok?"

"I'm not stressing out I just didn't realize what time it was. At least I got my paper done. Can I go get ready now?" He reluctantly released his hold on my chest and I rushed to take a shower and get ready. Twenty minutes later I emerged from the bathroom, freshly showered and wearing my Osgood Redwings Jersey and a comfortable pair of jeans.

"Jack, are you ready to go?" I asked as I walked towards the front door, grabbing my keys and purse from the table next to the door.

"Yeah, I'm coming." He said as he came out of the living room. "I was just playing your Strat. She is in amazing shape for as old as she is. Where did you get her?"

"I don't really want to talk about it right now, if that's alright. It's a painful story and not something that I want to dredge up right before we leave. I promise I'll tell you all about her later."

"Alright, if you promise." He smiled and opened the door, ushering me out ahead of him. Fifteen minutes later we were walking up the stairs to the Mercer house. I had started crying when we pulled up in front of the house but Jack hadn't noticed. He was much too busy explaining the personalities of his brothers to me as if I had never met them before. Little did he know just how wrong that was.

He opened the door and walked inside before realizing that I wasn't next to him. He turned to look at me and rushed back down the stairs when he saw the tears streaming down my face. "Kat! What's wrong?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

"Nothing. I'm fine. This is just the first time I've been here since Evelyn died."

"Wait, how did you know mom?" Jack asked confused.

"I should have told you sooner, Jack, I'm sorry. Evelyn…I mean….I….well…..um….ok. You know how I told you that Seth is my brother?"

"Yeah?"

"What I didn't tell you is that he isn't my biological brother. My parents adopted me when I was ten. Evelyn cycled me out of the system when I was 8 and I lived here until I was adopted. Bobby, Jerry and Angel were here already and they treated me like their little sister, they still do actually. I had heard stories about you from Evelyn but never met you until the other night. I'm sorry I didn't tell you when we met but honestly, we haven't really talked a whole lot since we met. I know that's not an excuse but………" I trailed off into silence, waiting for Jack's reaction. I sighed in relief when he smiled.

"Don't worry about it. I'm glad you knew mom and all of that. I was worried that you wouldn't be able to handle Bobby but that's kind of a mute point now, isn't it?" He hugged me and grabbed my hand, pulling me into the house after him.

"Hey Kat. How are you doing?" Sophie asked as we entered.

"Good. What's for dinner?"

"Always hungry aren't you?" Angel smirked at me.

"You know it. Hey, who's winning?" I asked, noticing the Redwing's game on TV.

"We are, of course." Bobby piped up from his corner of the couch. He stood up and walked over to give me a hug. "Always good to see you kitty-kat."

"You too Bobo." I grinned and punched him in the shoulder.

"Bobo?" Jack looked at Bobby and started laughing until there were tears in his eyes. "That's priceless." Jack sat down and patted the couch cushion next to him. I sat down and curled into his side, laying my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer.

"That is just so weird." Angel said, taking a sip of his beer.

"What's weird?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Seeing the two of you together. I never would have thought that you would have gotten along much less liked each other."

"I can't believe you turned Fairy straight." Bobby said and I jumped across the couch, tackling him. I tickled him until he couldn't stop laughing and finally pinned my arms to my sides.

"No more gay shit?" I asked, struggling to get out of his iron grip.

"Not in front of you kitty-kat." Bobby said, finally releasing my arms.

Jack grinned at me and I sat back down, only I sat on his lap this time. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Would you two get a room?" Bobby rolled his eyes at us.

"Later, maybe." I said, laughing. "You know you're just jealous. We need to find you a lady, Bobby."

"I don't need your help with women Kat."

"Then how come you don't ever bring anyone home with you?"

"Did you ever think that I wouldn't want you scaring them away?"

"What? Why would they be scared of little old me? I don't bite…..at least not hard." I grinned at him.

"Yeah, we all know your tendencies, Kat."

"Shut up Bobby! That was only one time and that was almost 4 years ago now. Why can't you just leave it alone."

"Does Jack know about your tendencies?" Bobby smirked at me.

"There isn't anything to tell him. God Bobby, you are such a prick." I jumped off of Jack's lap and stormed into the kitchen.

"Why don't you tell me what you are talking about Bobby." Jack glared at him and Bobby laughed.

"This one time at Joe's I saw Kat with a girl and they were making out."

Jack's eyes popped wide open and his jaw just about hit the floor. "Seriously? That's hot."

"Kat's gay?" Angel asked, confused.

"No. She says she was just experimenting but I still think it's funny."

"Dinner is ready." Sofi called and the guys all got up and came into the dining room. After we ate, we all decided to go play a game of hockey.

"Wow Kat. I didn't know you could play like that." Jack smiled at me and picked me up twirling me around by the waist. I shrieked and squirmed wildly to get down.

"Put me down right this minute Jack Mercer." I demanded as Angel and Bobby laughed. Jack ignored me, instead handing me to Bobby who threw me over his shoulder and carried me into the house, my fists pounding into his back totally unnoticed. He walked into the kitchen and grabbed a beer out of the fridge, continuing to carry me like I weighed no more than a feather.

"Bobby! Put me down." I yelled as I continued to hit him.

"Maybe if you ask nicely I might think about it." I could feel him smirking at my discomfort. Sighing inwardly I said "Please put me down Bobo?"

"Alright." He said as he threw me down on the couch. "That was some decent playing Kat. It looks like you haven't forgotten everything that I taught you."

"My nickname was the "little mauler" after all." I grinned and threw a pillow at him, smacking him in the face.

"Little Mauler?" Jack asked, quirking an eyebrow at me.

"Bobby taught me to play while I lived here and when we would play the other guys would avoid me at first, because the thought that Bobby would beat them up if they hurt me. I couldn't let them get away with that so…"

"She went after them and took even the biggest one down breaking one of his ribs in the process. She was like a little tornado on ice." Angel said, smirking at Jack's confused expression.

"I learned from the best." I said as I got up and walked into the kitchen to get a bottle of water. Jack got up and followed me.

"How come I don't remember hearing anything about you before now?" Jack asked as he grabbed a beer from the fridge and opened it.

"I don't know. I wasn't really close to Evelyn while I lived here and then when I was adopted I tried to forget about my time here, thinking that it would be easier to adjust to my new life if I forgot about the old one. Bobby wouldn't let me forget though. He came to see me once a week for the first year and then we saw each other less and less as time went by until I was lucky if I saw him once a year. He usually tried to see me around my birthday. He was like the older brother that I never had. He took care of me when it felt like no one else cared." By this point I had started to cry and Jack wrapped me in his arms, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

"Bobby did that for me too. He took me under his wing and made me feel safe here with all of them. Mom and I were almost as close as Bobby and I were but not quite." I laid my head on his shoulder and Jack rest his chin on my head.

"Why don't you two get a room?" Bobby asked as he walked in the kitchen to get another beer.

"Speak of the devil…" I let go of Jack and walked over to give Bobby a hug. He hugged me back, looking up into my eyes.

"What the fuck was that about?" reassuming the tough guy attitude that had dropped momentarily.

"A thank you for you being you." I grinned at him and punched his shoulder good-naturedly. "What would I do without my Bobo?"

"Whatever." Bobby said, grimacing and walking out of the kitchen, secretly pleased by the attention.

"I think that was a little too gushy for him." I grinned and turned to face Jack. "Do you want to come home with me tonight or are you going to stay here?"

"Do you want me to come home with you?"

"Would I have asked if I didn't?" I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. "I like waking up with you next to me."

He sighed and pulled me closer to him. "How can I say no to that." I grabbed his hand and walked with him out of the kitchen.

"I'm going home guys. It was fun. See ya'll next Sunday if I can convince Tori to stop being a recluse."

"See ya Kat." Sofi said as she gave me a hug. "You know Tori is welcome any time you want to bring her."

"Yeah, I know Sofi…thanks."

"You going home with her Jack?" Bobby piped up as Jack followed me to the door and put on his faded leather jacket.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that…Bobo?" Jack grinned as Bobby flipped him off.

"Whatever. Ya'll just remember to sleep at some point. Kat has to work tomorrow night and I don't want to have to pick up her slack." Bobby smirked as I let out an indignant shriek.

"Whatever Bobby. Bye everybody." We walked out of the house and got into my car.

Fifteen minutes later we walked into my apartment and saw Sarah and Aden making out in front of a pan of burning…something.

"Ya'll should really avoid cooking." I smirked as they jumped apart looking guilty.

"God, you could have knocked or something." Sarah glared at me.

"What? Knock before entering our apartment? Right. Just make sure to clean up that pan." I said as I grabbed Jack's hand and we walked down the hall to my room. Taking off our clothes we curled up next to each other and fell quickly asleep.

**Please review…I like to know if people like what I'm writing. If you don't like it, let me know. I'm curious to see what people think and it encourages me to keep going.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next morning I jerked awake at 6:30 to the sound of the alarm on my phone. Jack groaned and rolled over, quickly falling back to sleep once I turned the phone alarm off. I got up and took a shower. Going back into my room I saw that Jack hadn't moved so I quietly put on some clothes and backed out of the room, leaving him to sleep.

I left the apartment and drove over to my brother Seth's house almost a half an hour from my place. I knocked on the door and Andrea opened it.

"We are so glad that you are here, Kat. Tori decided that she didn't want to go to school today so you don't have to worry about picking her up from school."

"So, do I need to like baby-sit today or something?" I asked, kind of annoyed.

"No. She should be able to keep herself out of trouble for the day. It's night that we are worried about." Andrea looked at me pleadingly.

"So I'm going to have to spend the night here for two weeks? That is going to be a ton of gas driving back and forth to school." I sighed mentally and resigned myself to doing whatever it took to make the best of a not great situation.

"We will pay for your gas and anything else you need to make living here with her bearable for the next two weeks. We really appreciate you doing this for us." Andrea smiled at me and gave me a hug.

"It's ok. What is family for?"

Just then Seth came walking down the stairs, two giant black suitcases in his hands. "Kat, I'm so glad to see you. Did Andrea already tell you about the plans?"

"Yep, she told me. Don't worry about anything. Tori and I will have fun and hopefully won't burn the house down in the process." I smiled reassuringly.

"What is that on your neck?" Seth asked, noticing for the first time the giant hickey on my neck, right under my ear.

"Um….A hickey?" I said, looking down at the floor sheepishly, blushing furiously.

"From who?"

"My boyfriend…Jack Mercer." I smiled and waited for his reaction.

"Mercer?!? You are dating a MERCER?" Seth glared at me accusingly.

"You know what those men are like!!! How could you possibly date one of them?" Andrea chimed in.

"Yeah, I'm dating a Mercer. They aren't as bad as you think they are. You have only ever met one of them and that was Bobby, the hot-head of the family. Don't judge them before you even have a chance to meet them. If Jack is good enough for me then that should be good enough for you." I glared at him defiantly.

"You're right. I'm sorry. We don't have time to talk about this any more right now or we are going to be late for our flight. Thank you Kat and we will call you when we get to Belize." Seth said, hugging me and grabbing the suitcases.

"Bye. Have a safe flight." I smiled as I helped them load the car and finally drive off.

"Tori." I called as I walked back in the house.

"Hey Kat." She said as she emerged from her room. "What's up?"

"Can you be ready to leave in 5 minutes?"

"Sure. Why the rush?" she looked at me questioningly.

"I want to go home before I have to go to class and if we leave now I'll have time to do that."

"I'm ready." She said, reaching into her room and grabbing her purse.

A half hour later we were walking into the apartment just as Aden was leaving. Tori stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Aden. "Oh my God. That's Aden Jones." She squeaked and grabbed my arm.

"Hey Aden. Leaving so soon?" I asked as I got to the door and pulled it open.

"Sarah has to go to class and then to work so I didn't really want to hang around here and be in the way or anything so I'm heading home."

"See you later." I said as I dragged Tori into the apartment after me. "How do you know Aden?" I asked curiously.

"He's only the best drummer in the best band ever." She said excitedly.

"You've heard of The Spares?"

"Who hasn't?" she looked at me disbelievingly.

"Well if you know Aden then that would mean that you know who Jack is."

Tori mimicked fainting and leaned against the wall, clutching her heart. "Be still my beating heart. Jack Mercer is only the most gorgeous man in the world with only the best voice ever."

"Why thank you." Jack said walking out of the kitchen in nothing but his boxers, holding a cup of coffee. "You must be Tori." Jack said, offering her the hand that wasn't holding the coffee cup.

"Oh my God! You're Jack Mercer!" She glared at me accusingly. "You didn't tell me about him."

"I'm sorry. I know I tell you everything but this just happened…what…3 days ago? To be fair, I haven't talked to you since it happened." I said, apologetically.

"Alright. Nice to meet you Jack." She said, shaking his hand and holding it for slightly longer than necessary.

"Hey, we're playing tonight at Joe's if you ladies would like to come?" Jack looked at me hopefully.

"I'll be there for work so I'll see you. What about you Tori…you want to come to work with me tonight?"

"Yes!" She squeaked and jumped up and down before launching herself at me and hugging me until I thought I might pass out from lack of oxygen.

"Ok. I get it. You're excited. Can you let me go now?" I asked, trying to get my arms free.

"Sorry. I just really love The Spares." She said, still grinning from ear to ear.

"I have to leave for class in about ten minutes. Be ready to go by then…Both of you." I said as I walked down the hall to my room with Jack following close on my heels. I walked in the door and he closed it behind him. He walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, burying his head in my hair.

"I don't like waking up without you here." He growled in my ear, pulling me tight up against his chest.

"I'm sorry. You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn't want to wake you up." I turned in his arms and kissed him in apology. He quickly deepened the kiss, our tongues battling for entry into the other's mouth. He pressed his full length up against me and I could feel him pulsing against my stomach, through his boxers and my sweatshirt. "You really did miss me didn't you?" I smiled, looking up into his eyes. I was surprised by the intensity of emotion that I could discern there, both love and desire reflected from those sea-green eyes. "I'm sorry. I won't leave without waking you up ever again. I promise." I kissed him again and pushed him away. "As much as I would like to stay here all day, I have to go to class and I have to drop you off at your house before that, so we really don't have time for that." I smiled apologetically and Jack went to gather the rest of his clothes from the chair that I had hung them on this morning before I left.

"Can I come home with you tonight?" Jack asked tentatively.

"Sure. Tori can sleep in the guest bedroom or I can drop her off at home after the show if she wants but that won't affect us any." I finished packing my book-bag for the morning and opened the door. Jack followed me out and the three of us left the apartment, piling into my car. I dropped Jack at his house and he gave me a quick kiss before getting out. Tori moved up to take his place in the front seat.

"I can't believe that you are dating Jack Mercer. He is so hot! All of my friends will be so jealous when I tell them that my aunt is dating him and I get to sleep in the same house as him." Tori gushed.

"Just don't make them too jealous. I don't want a bunch of angry punk kids burning my apartment down in the middle of the night." I laughed when she punched me lightly on the arm.

"Whatever. So…I want details. When did you guys meet? Who asked who out? How was the first date? First kiss? Do you love him? Is he "the one"? How is the sex? Is he as awesome in the sack as every one says?" Tori ranted excitedly.

"Three days ago, I asked him, awesome, great, yes, maybe, none of your business and who says he's awesome in the sack?" I laughed watching her process the answers that I had given her.

"That's just the rumor going around. I don't know anyone who's actually slept with him. It's one of those my best friend's sister's best friend's cousin type thing." We both laughed at that.

"I have Ed. Psych. this morning so you won't be totally bored out of your mind, sitting in class with me. Tomorrow, hopefully you'll feel like going to school cuz otherwise you are going to have to sit through my really boring classes." I winked at her and she smiled.

"Yeah, I'll go to school tomorrow. I just wanted to spend some time with you today. I haven't seen you in two months!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry I've been so busy. Classes eat up most of my time and then there's studying and my job at Joe's and now there's Jack. I just don't have time to breathe. We need to pick a day once every couple of weeks to get together and just catch up."

"That sounds good. I'll call you and bother you until we hang out again." By this time we were on campus and I parked the car right outside the building that my class was in.

"I never get a space this close. You must be good luck or something Tori." I smiled and got out of the car to go to class. An hour and half later we were pulling out of the parking lot when my cell phone rang.

"What's up?" I smiled into the phone when I heard Jack laugh.

"Nothing beautiful. I was just calling to check on my favorite woman."

"Well, your woman is going to get some lunch with her favorite niece and then go do some studying before going to work tonight."

"God, you are always busy aren't you?"

"Pretty much. This weekend was a very rare one in that I didn't have to work and I didn't have much homework. You'll just have to get used to it Mr. Mercer." I smiled when he huffed in indignation,

"What? You think I'm not busy? I'll have you know I have full day of laying on the couch, watching TV, playing videogames and possibly sleeping planned." He said this in a tone of such seriousness that I laughed until there were tears in my eyes and my sides hurt.

"You are a very funny man. What are you actually going to do today?"

"I have band practice in an hour and then we have an appointment to talk to a talent agent that is in town to hear us play tonight."

"Oh my god Jack! That's awesome!" I screeched into the phone. "You guys so deserve a recording contract. I hope he can help you with that."

"Wow. You really are excited aren't you?" I could hear the smile in his voice through the phone.

"Yeah, I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"If we do get signed, it means that we will have to go to either California or New York to record and stuff."

"But this is what you guys want isn't it? I mean this is why you have been playing for years, to get this kind of recognition. Why don't you sound as happy as I do?" I asked, confused.

"It means that we will have to leave here and I won't be able to see you every day."

"I'll always be here when you get back, Jackie. This is a conversation that I want to have later, not over the phone. We can talk tonight after the show, ok? Besides, you did say that you wanted to spend the night at my place again didn't you?" I asked, mischievously.

"Oh yeah. You did say I could, didn't you?"

"Sweetheart, I gotta let you go cuz I'm driving in downtown Detroit. Talk to you tonight?"

"Ok, beautiful. See you later." I smiled as I closed the phone.

"What are you so happy about?" Tori asked. "Aren't you sad that he might be leaving?"

"Well yeah, there's that but he and the guys have worked so hard to get this deal. They deserve whatever success they get. Besides, I will always be here waiting for him when he comes home." I sniffled, thinking about a future without Jack in it. "I know it's fast but it feels like we have known each other for ever. I know what I want and it's Jack Mercer."

"Kat, that's so awesome. I'm so happy for you." Tori said, hugging me awkwardly from the passenger seat. We were finally back at my house and we went upstairs. Tori plopped down in front of the TV and I went back to my room to study until we had to leave for work.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Finally it was five o'clock and time to get ready to go to work. I paid extra attention to fixing my hair and it fell in waves down my back. My make-up was perfect, making my eyes look green instead of the hazel color that they normally were. I put on my favorite black leather mini-skirt, black kitten heels and tight emerald green tank top that hugged in all of the right places. I knew that the normal clientele at the bar would give me no end of trouble about grabbing my ass and hitting on me but looking good for Jack was worth it.

"Tori, are you ready to go?" I called as I walked towards the door, grabbing my keys and purse off of the table.

"Coming." Tori said as she came out of the bathroom. "Wow, Kat. You look great. Jack will love it."

"Thanks, that was what I was going for. You look great too." She had changed into skinny black jeans and a tight purple t-shirt that emphasized her already good-sized breasts.

We left and got to Joe's right on time. My shift started at 6 and ended when the last customer left, whatever time that happened to be. As we walked in the door I saw Jack and Aden talking in the corner, looking at the speakers set up next to the stage. Aden looked up first and pointed at us making Jack whip his head in our direction. He stood stock still for a minute just looking at us. He shook his head as if to clear it and grinned at me.

"Wow. You clean up nice." Jack said as walked over to us. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me on the cheek.

"You don't look so bad yourself Mr. Mercer." I smiled at him.

"God, you're tall. In those heels you are only an inch shorter than I am." He smiled hugging me tighter for a second and then let me go.

"How did the meeting with the talent agent go?" I asked.

"Well…um…I wanted to surprise you with an announcement at the end of the show tonight." He grinned at me mischievously.

"Alright. Keep your secrets. I have to go get the bar stocked for the night. Oh yeah, the band drinks for free tonight…what do you guys want?"

"I'll have a scotch on the rocks and Jack will have a beer…like we always do." Aden answered.

"Coming right up." I said as I turned to go make them drinks. The guys went back to talking and Tori followed me to the bar.

"You guys are so cute together." She grinned at me and hopped up on a barstool.

"Thanks. I'd like to think so." I smiled at I popped the top off of a beer and poured a double scotch on the rocks. "Will you take these over to them while I finish stocking the bar?"

"Sure." Tori said as she grabbed the drinks and headed over to the guys.

Just then Bobby walked in from the back room. "Hey Kat. You are going to get hell for that outfit. You know that right?" He said as he quirked an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah I know. I just wanted to look good for Jack tonight." I blushed furiously when Bobby laughed at me.

"You love him…don't you?"

"That's none of your business Bobby Mercer!" I exclaimed as I stormed off into the cooler to get beers and cool off before I tried to punch Bobby.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't resist." Bobby said, following me into the cooler. "You really do love him though, don't you?" he asked as he grabbed me around the arms and gently turned me towards him.

"Bobby…I… what I mean… well…damn it. Yes, I do love him. I've never felt this way about anyone before. He just makes me feel safe and happy in ways that I've never really felt before. Why do you want to know?"

"I guess I just wanted to try to warn you to not get too attached. Jack is a good kid, he just sucks at dealing with women. He is going to hurt you and I don't want you to get hurt."

"Thanks Bobby but I'm a big girl now. I think I can handle a Mercer."

"You are the only woman who could tame him. Good luck with that." Bobby said as he turned on his heel and walked out of the cooler. _What the hell? Bobby is giving me advice about Jack? I think hell might just have frozen over._ I smiled to myself and walked out of the cooler, carrying a crate of beers.

By the time 8 o'clock rolled around the bar was overcrowded with the regulars and about 200 Spare fans, waiting for the concert to begin. The guys walked out on stage and the crowd erupted in cheers. Jack began to sing and everyone who knew the song was singing along with him, almost to the point that you couldn't hear him. He looked so hot rocking out up on stage. He had a black t-shirt on with the sleeves cut off with a red skull in the center and tight jeans on that left almost nothing to the imagination. By the time they had sung through their set his shirt was soaked and he was gasping for air but looked absolutely gorgeous doing it. I grinned to myself, thinking just how lucky I was to get to take that home at the end of the night. They finished their last song and the crowd went wild. The guys were all grinning from ear to ear when Jack held up his hands to get their attention.

"Hey everybody, listen up. We have an announcement to make. The Spare's have just signed a deal to tour with Evanescence this summer and record a CD to be released around Christmas." The crowd erupted even more violently than before and Jack, Aden, Tim and their new drummer Micah bowed to the crowd. Jack searched me out after signing autographs for everyone that wanted one.

I put down the tray that I was carrying and I jumped on him, throwing my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. "I am so happy for you Jack. This is going to be great for you guys." I grinned at him and leaned down to kiss him.

"Thanks beautiful. I'm so glad that you aren't upset about this. You might want to think about getting down though…unless of course you like the whole bar seeing that you only have a tiny thong on under that skirt." Jack laughed when I shrieked in dismay and quickly stood up, pulling my skirt down at the same time.

"I have to go serve more drinks. We'll talk about this more tonight ok?" I turned around to see everyone behind me staring at me. I blushed furiously before taking a bow. All of the guys cheered while the girls sent glares that made me glad that looks couldn't kill. I could hear Jack laughing in the background and it made me smile.

The bar finally closed around 2 am and Jack, Tori, Micah and I all piled into my car to go home for the night. Apparently Micah and Tori had hit it off after the show and he was going to spend the night at my place. I knew that her parents would be pissed if they ever found out but at that point I was so happy that I didn't care what they said.

We all go out of the car and Jack and Micah stumbled up the stairs while Tori and I hung back a little. "Are you sure about this thing with Micah? I mean, you guys just met tonight." I stared at her intently.

"Yeah…about that. He and I have actually been dating since my freshman year of high school. He was a senior at the time but we really liked each other. Anyway, we've been together for almost 4 years now."

"Wow. How did I not know about this?"

"I never told you or gave any hint that I was dating anyone because I didn't want you telling my parents. They would never understand." She smiled at me apologetically and I laughed.

"Next time just tell me so I'm not totally out of the loop. I'm not as awful as you seem to think that I am. I promise I won't tell your parents anything that they don't absolutely need to know. Alright?"

"Alright. I promise. Let's go find those boys of ours before the do anything stupid." We jogged up the rest of the stairs to find Jack and Micah sitting on the floor outside of my apartment giggling.

"What's so funny?" I asked as I unlocked the door.

"I don't remember." Jack giggled again, slowly coming to a standing position, swaying slightly from side to side. Micah was almost as bad and Tori helped him stand and let him lean against her as they walked in to the apartment.

"You are very drunk Mr. Mercer." I said, wrapping my arm around his waist and leading him into the house.

"No I'm not." He giggled again as he stumbled and almost fell. "Ok, maybe a little." He conceded.

"I'm putting this one to bed. I hope yours isn't quite so bad. Good night." I said as I walked into my bedroom and kicked the door shut behind us. Jack stood on his own and pulled his shirt off over his head.

"Kat. I want you." He said, staring at me blearily.

"I don't think so Jack. I wouldn't want to take advantage of you." I smiled at him and pushed him down into a sitting position on the edge of the bed. I knelt down at his feet and pulled off his boots and socks. His pants quickly followed and he was in nothing but boxers. I could see that faint effort he was making to rise to the occasion and I laughed. "I don't think he's up for it Jack. Wake me up later when you aren't quite so drunk." I stripped and got into bed. Jack curled up against my back and draped an arm over my waist, lightly cupping my breast.

"Kat?"

"Yes Jack?"

"I love you."

I stiffened against him but he was already asleep and didn't notice. It took a while for me to fall sleep but I finally drifted off.

"Kat?" I jolted awake when Jack said my name.

"What time is it?" I said, wiping the sleep out of my eyes.

"4." I could feel him smile into my shoulder as his lips rested against the ankh I had tattooed on my shoulder blade.

"What's up?" I groaned and snuggled back into his chest.

"I am." He said as he pressed his hips into my lower back.

"Oh. I see. And just what am I supposed to do about that Mr. Mercer?" I smiled to myself and rolled over to face him.

"I could think of several things, right off hand." He grinned at me.

I smiled back at him and pushed him on his back, rising up to straddle his thighs. I leaned down to kiss him and he cupped my head in his hands, holding my head in place.

"Katrina, I meant what I said earlier. I love you." He looked deeply into my eyes, not letting me look away. "You make me want to be a better person."

"Oh Jack. Are you sure about this? I mean we've only known each other for a couple of days, how can you be sure about us yet?" I was desperately trying to keep myself from telling him that I loved him but my resolve was quickly draining.

"I know Kat. I knew the moment I saw you that you were different." He looked up at me and I could see a tear trailing down the side of his head, merging with his hairline.

"I …I don't know what to say." I sighed and collapsed on top of him, hiding my head in his shoulder.

"Say you love me. I can see it in your eyes Kat. I know you do." He pleaded.

"Of course I love you Jack. I just don't know if there's a future for us." I lifted my head and locked eyes with him. "You are leaving in what, two months and are going to be gone indefinitely? How are we supposed to be together when you don't even know where you will be from day to day?"

"Kat…Come with me." He looked up at me hopefully.

"Jack, you can't honestly expect me to drop my life here and follow you like some groupie." I shook my head in disbelief.

"You have the summer off don't you? Why don't you just come for a month and see how you like it?"

"Yes I do have the summer off but I work 40 hours a week during the summer, sometimes more, just to be able to afford to live during the semester. I can't just drop all of my commitments and run away Jack. This is your dream Jack. You have to do this for your self. I will be waiting here when you come home." I smiled through the tears that were threatening to fall.

"I don't know if I can do a long distance relationship Kat. I'm just not that kind of guy."

"Don't think of it as a relationship. Do whatever groupie catches your eye, I'll just be your Detroit groupie." I tried to smile but it came out as more of a grimace.

"I don't want to do that to you Kat."

"So, what, you just want a clean break then? Can you honestly tell me that you never want to see me again?" I looked at him and he shook his head no.

"Then let's just enjoy the time that we have together and worry about the future when it gets here. Okay?"

"Alright." He agreed meekly. I kissed him and he very gently flipped me over so that I was lying underneath him. He trailed kisses from my forehead all the way down to my ankles and back up to stop at my neck. He sucked on my neck under my left ear until he was satisfied that he had marked his territory. He looked down into my eyes questioningly and I nodded in approval. He slid into me in one gentle motion. Throughout our lovemaking he treated me as if I was a fragile piece of crystal that might fracture at any moment. For the first time I felt like I was truly loved and not just an object of lust. When we were done, he rolled of off me and curled up behind me, both of us quickly falling asleep.

**XXXXX**

**Please review!!! Comments, whether positive or negative, encourage me to continue writing.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The two weeks that Tori was supposed to stay with me flew by and before I knew it Seth called to set up plans to come get Tori.

"Hey sis."

"Hey, Seth. How was your vacation?"

"It was amazing. We're both sunburned but we had a blast. Is Tori ready to come home?"

"She doesn't want to leave but she does want to see you." I smiled when Seth huffed in annoyance.

"Wait...you mean she actually had a good time with you? What did you do?" Seth asked in disbelief.

"Yes she did. We partied and got drunk every night." I said sarcastically. "No really, we just did what we would normally do and went to a couple of concerts. We really got to know each other and we have a lot more in common than I was expecting."

"Really? I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing but I'm glad that you didn't kill each other. So, can you bring her back tomorrow night and maybe bring that boyfriend of yours along so that we can meet him."

"Only if dinner is involved. I might not be able to convince him otherwise." I grinned at my little joke. I knew that Jack wanted to meet my other family and was only waiting for them to get back in town before he did.

"Alright, we'll all have dinner together and I promise I won't grill him too much." I could hear Seth's grin through the phone.

"Fine. We'll be there Saturday at 6 or so alright?"

"That works for us. See you then sis." I flipped my phone shut and went to go find Tori. I found her in the guest room.

"Hey. Your mom and dad are home."

"Yeah, I know. I just got off the phone with mom."

"They want you to come home tomorrow night and they want to meet Jack." I said nervously.

"They will love him. You know they will." She said reassuringly.

"I hope so. You know how he is when he is in one of his moods though." I sighed remembering our first fight last Sunday.

_I had decided to go to the regular family dinner because Jack had asked me to be there. I walked in the front door and Bobby smiled at me. "Jackie-poo is in his room but I wouldn't go up there if I were you. He's in one of his moods."_

"_Sure Bobby, whatever you say." I ignored his advice and went upstairs anyway. It had been a couple of days since I had seen Jack and I missed him. I stood outside his door for a moment just listening to him strum a few chords on his guitar and then I knocked lightly on the door._

"_Bobby get the fuck away from my door. You know I don't feel like dealing with your shit right now." Jack practically screamed through the closed door._

"_I'm sorry Jack. I guess it isn't a good time." Jack flung the door open and I stepped back in surprise._

"_Kat? I didn't know you were here. Bobby just got to me this morning and I haven't been able to write any new music like I told the guys that I would." He looked at me apologetically and I smiled at him._

"_It's alright. Don't worry about it. I've just never heard you yell before so it kinda threw me off there for a minute."_

"_Yeah, well it's something that you are going to have to get used to, especially if we stay together for very long."_

"_What do you mean, IF?" I looked at him, not really believing the words that he had just said._

"_Eventually you are going to want someone who is good enough for you and I won't ever be that guy Kat."_

"_What are you talking about…Good enough? Who said you weren't good enough for me?" I glared at him._

"_Bobby warned me to be good to you because otherwise you might leave me." Jack said, defiantly._

"_Bobby? What does Bobby know about our relationship? It's not a question of being good enough or even being good to me. I love you Jack Mercer. You and NO ONE else. You are everything that I have ever wanted so don't you DARE go trying to convince yourself that you aren't good enough or that you don't deserve to have something good happen to you." I noticed that I was almost growling when I finished what I was saying and clamped my mouth shut before I said anything that I might regret._

"_But I don't deserve you Kat." Jack looked down at the floor and I saw a single tear course down his cheek._

"_I'm just as screwed up as the next person. I have my demons just like everybody else, I'm just better at hiding them than most people." I reached out to try to hug him but he turned away from me._

"_I think it's best that you leave now before either of us gets too attached." Jack said as he grabbed his guitar and stared strumming randomly._

"_What the fuck? You just dumped me? You know what, that's fine with me. I don't need to be with someone who doesn't want to be with me. I was doing just fine before you come along Jack Mercer and I will be...fuck this." I screeched as I fled down the stairs. Bobby looked up as I reached to bottom stair._

"_Kat…what's wrong?" he asked, concerned._

"_What the fuck did you say to Jack? You know what, I don't want to know. You get your ass up there and apologize for whatever dumb-ass thing you said to Jack to make him break up with me." I started sobbing uncontrollably and Bobby jumped up coming over to me, wrapping his arms around me._

"_He broke up with you? Why in the fuck would he do something so stupid as that? He loves you."_

"_He said hic that you sniffle told him that he should be good to me or I might leave him." I glared down at him accusingly._

"_I didn't mean anything like that. I was just teasing. You know how I am. Would you take his dumb-ass back if I can beat some sense into him?"_

"_Yeah, just don't mess up his face. It's the reason I love him." I smiled weakly at my own joke. Bobby let go of me and was walking up the stairs as I was leaving. I heard Jack's bedroom door slam and screaming ensue just as I shut my car door._

_At about midnight I hear a tentative rapping on the front door. I ignored it, thinking that whoever it was would just go away if I didn't answer._

"_Kat? I know you're here. Your car is in front of the building. Please open up?" Damn it, he sounds upset, I thought as I walked toward the door. He rapped again, harder this time and after hesitating for a moment I opened the door._

"_What do you want Jack?" I sighed and folded my arms under my chest, waiting for his answer._

"_Baby I…"_

"_I'm not your baby Jack Mercer." I glared at him and he winced as if I had slapped him._

"_Katrina, I'm sorry. I woke up this morning in a really foul mood and Bobby kept teasing me about how I wasn't good enough for you…man enough…all of that old shit. I started thinking about how he was right. All of the things that I did at my old foster homes and how you shouldn't be with someone who did that stuff. Bobby was right. I don't deserve you but I want you anyway. I love you Kat and I want to be with you."_

"_Jack, whatever you did is in the past. I love you, every messed up inch of you. We are good together and…"_

"_And what?" Jack looked down at me, hope shining in his eyes._

"_I want to be with you too Jack."_

I smiled. Whoever said make-up sex is the best knew what they were talking about.

"What are you so happy about?" Tori asked.

"Nothing, just thinking. You probably want to start packing if you are going to be ready."

"Whatever. I didn't bring that much with me." At that point my cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey beautiful. What's up?"

"Nothin' much. You?"

"I have to have a reason to call?"

"No, you just usually do."

"Well, this time I do. Can you come over for a while tonight?"

"Sure. When?"

"Right now?"

"I'll be there in a few." I smiled and flipped my phone closed. "I'm going over to Jack's. I don't know when I'll be back. Call me if you need anything, ok?"

"Sure. Hey, can Micah come over tonight?"

"Alright. Have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." I grinned at her.

"So that leaves nothing off limits right?" Tori giggled as I glared at her and left. Fifteen minutes later I pulled up outside of the Mercer's house as Angel ad Sofi were leaving.

"Hey Kat." Angel said, holding the door open for me. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm not sure. Jack wanted me to come over so I'm here. Where are you guys going?" I had just noticed that they were both dressed very nicely.

"I'm taking Sofi out for dinner and dancing." Angel grinned at me.

"I'll bet Bobby got a kick out of that one. Ya'll have fun." I walked into the house and heard Bobby cursing. "Watch your language Bobby Mercer."

"Hey Kat. I didn't know you were here. Fairy's in his room." He turned back to the hockey game that he had been watching and I went upstairs. I knocked gently on the door and Jack opened the door.

"Hello beautiful."

"Hello yourself. What's up?"

"I missed you." Jack said as he wrapped his arms around me and kissed my cheek.

"Was that all? You could have said that over the phone and saved me the trip. But then I wouldn't have been able to do this." I said as I kissed his lips and pushed a piece of hair off of his forehead.

"But you missed me?" Jack looked down at me, questioningly.

"Of course I did. But seriously, was there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yeah, kinda…it's not really important but there's this reporter that's doing a piece on the band and I wanted you to tell me if what I picked out to wear was good or not." Jack studied his feet sheepishly and I laughed.

"You're actually asking for my opinion on clothes? Jack, you know what you like and what looks good on you. What do you need me for?"

"Our manager wants us to wear something that screams "punk rock without looking cheap"." He made the quotation marks in the air as he said that and I giggled.

"Your manager sounds…interesting."

"Yeah, she's kind of a hard-ass but she seems to get the job done so we're not complaining."

"So what did you pick out?" Jack waved vaguely towards the bed and I walked over to examine his choice. He had chosen a long-sleeve knitted sweater that had black and red horizontal stripes with a pair of faded jeans.

"I should really see them on to judge accurately." I winked suggestively at him and he reached for the hem of his sweatshirt. "I'm just kidding. That looks great. When is this interview anyway?"

"We're meeting tomorrow at Joe's at 5:30. Willyougowithme?"

"Can you repeat that last bit?" I smiled faintly as Jack looked up from his study of his socks and blushed.

"Will you be there with me, not in the actual interview, but there at the bar?"

"Of course I'll be there. Where else would I be?"

"I don't know. I thought you might have somewhere more important to be or something."

"Oh shit. I'm supposed to take Tori home and then have dinner with my brother and his wife. Well, we were supposed to have dinner with them. I guess it will just have to be postponed until some other night when my boyfriend isn't being a Rockstar." I smiled up at him and he laughed.

"Will you call them and push it off until Sunday? You know I want to meet your family but this is really important to the band."

"Absolutely. I'm sure they'll understand and if they don't then they'll just have to get over it. Let me call and tell them what's up before Andrea goes crazy with the whole baking/cooking/cleaning thing."

The interview went off without a hitch and all of the guys were really excited about the article coming out, even though it was only in the local paper.

The following day Tori, Jack and I all piled into my car and drove the half-hour back to Tori's house. Seth was the first one out the door and he hugged Tori tightly, telling her just how much they missed her. He looked up to see Jack standing there, nervously shifting his weight from one side to the other and running the chain on his wallet through his fingers.

"You must be Jack." Seth said looking him up and down then holding his hand out to shake. Jack smiled that infectious grin that he is so good at and Seth smiled back at him. "You don't look quite so…rough…as Bobby."

"You've met Bobby?" Jack looked at me confused.

"Yeah. Remember that I told you that Bobby used to come visit me on my birthday? Seth met him a couple of times then…back when Bobby wasn't quite so…refined."

"Bobby…refined?" Jack laughed so hard that tears pooled in the corners of his eyes and he was gasping for air.

"Ok, maybe not refined but he is much better at keeping that famous temper under wraps." I glared at Jack as he continued to laugh.

"Sure…whatever you say Kat."

Noticing the tension radiating from me Seth ushered us in the house. After meeting Andrea, we all sat down to dinner and before we knew it, it was time to leave.

"It was nice meeting you Jack. Hopefully it will the be the first of many such occasions." Andrea said.

"You read too many Jane Austen novels on vacation, didn't you?" I smiled and hugged her.

"Yeah, probably." We all said good-bye and Jack and I got into my car. I pulled out of the driveway and Jack leaned over, kissing my neck, just under my ear. I jerked away from him and glared at him out of the corner of my eye.

"What's wrong?" Jack looked at me, confused.

"Never mind." I growled at him. He laid his hand on mine where it rested on the gearshift and I swatted it away.

"What the fuck?" Jack glared at me. I had never refused any kind of contact with him before but I was pissed.

"You shouldn't be like that about your brother. Especially in front of people who don't know him."

"Wait…you're pissed that I laughed at you calling Bobby refined? He's about as refined as an elephant in a china shop." Jack was laughing again and I punched him in the shoulder.

"He's much better than he used to be. You know that. I've been trying to get Seth to warm up to him for years but he has always hated him. I don't know why…he just has. I was trying to make sure that he didn't hate you the way that he hates Bobby."

"They don't hate me. Dinner went fine so you can calm down." Jack pushed a piece of hair that had fallen in my eyes back behind my ear.

"I'm sorry. I overreacted."

"Yeah, you did but it's ok. You were just being a Mercer." Jack grinned at me and I laughed.

"I guess I was wasn't I?" We pulled up outside of my house, went in and went straight to bed.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Two months later, it was the night before Jack and the band were leaving. I had finished finals a couple of weeks ago and Jack and I had been spending every night together as well as any free time that we had. Tonight we all decided to go out and celebrate their good luck and kind of give them a farewell. We rented out the back room of Joe's and everyone was there. Jack, Aden, Tim, Micah, Sarah, Tori, Angel, Bobby, Jerry, Sofi, Camille and I were all sitting around a big table just drinking and talking. There was a lull in the conversation and Aden chose that moment to stand up. Everyone's eyes were drawn to him and all conversations ceased. He smiled and said "Sarah and I have an announcement to make." I shot Sarah a questioning glance that she pointedly ignored, looking up at Aden. "We are getting married." Everyone clapped and I ran around the table to give my best friend a giant hug.

"When did this happen and when are you getting married?" I asked a little bit annoyed that she hadn't told me first.

"We are going to get married after their first CD is released in December. I'm going on tour with them this summer." She smiled at me and I smiled back at her.

"I'm so happy for you. Aden is good for you and you deserve to be happy." I gave her another hug. I could feel Jack walk up behind me. I turned around to look at him and squeaked when I saw him down on one knee, holding a red velvet box.

"Oh god. Jack, no. Don't do this. Please…" I shook my head in denial.

"Katrina Maree Wilson"

"No Jack…Don't." I pleaded.

"Will you marry me?" Jack looked up at me and I could see the same love that I felt for him reflected in his eyes.

"Jack, oh my God." I started sobbing hysterically.

"Don't leave him hanging Kat, say yes already." Bobby piped up from his chair across the table.

"Jack, baby, yes." He jumped up and grabbed me around the waist hugging me tight to him. I could feel him shaking from the stress that I had put him through. He held up the opened box and I gasped when I looked in it. "That was Evelyn's favorite ring." It was a small ruby set in a plain silver band.

"I know. We all talked about it and we think that Evelyn would have wanted you to wear it and since you are going to marry me, it will be staying in the family." Jack pressed his forehead to mine and lightly kissed my lips.

"Damn, your kids will be tall." Angel said, pulling us out of our bubble.

"And?" I smirked at him.

"Nothin' just makin' an observation."

"Let's go dance." Sofi said, standing up and dragging Angel with her.

"Yeah that sounds like fun." Sarah and Tori said in unison, making them laugh. Every one quickly left the room and Jack and I were alone.

"Why did you ask me to stop?" Jack quirked an eyebrow at me, pulling me even closer to him.

"I just didn't want you to make a mistake in tying yourself to me when you should be out enjoying groupies to your hearts content."

Jack laughed and leaned in to kiss me. "I don't want groupies. They aren't you." He smiled and I laughed at him. He took the ring out of its box and put it on my finger. It was a perfect fit and looked really good on my hand.

"Just remember that when you have to go home alone after your first show." I said as I pulled his head down and kissed him. He pulled back and looked at me for a moment.

"I wouldn't have to go home alone if you would just come with us. Sarah is coming, why can't you?" Jack looked at me pleadingly.

"Jack, we've been over this before. Sarah is done with school. She already has job offers in both Los Angeles and New York, depending on where you go to record. I'm not done with school yet and even if I was, it's not like teachers can just pick up and move from job to job whenever they feel like it. You know that. You also know that I would if I could. I'm sorry Jack."

"I know. I just thought I'd try one more time. We get a short break after touring in August to come home." He pressed his forehead to mine and sighed. "I'm going to miss you like hell."

"I'm going to miss you too Jack. Promise you'll call every so often?"

"I will. Now, let's get out of here and go have some fun by ourselves." Jack grabbed me by the hand and I followed him as we went to go say goodbye to everyone before heading back to my apartment. The guys had decided to leave from there in the morning since three of the four practically lived in our apartment.

When we got to the apartment, Jack picked me up and carried me into our bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him. He stood me up next to the bed and proceeded to unzip my dress and he pulled it off of my shoulders, letting it puddle at my feet. I stepped out of it and found the hem of his shirt, pulling it up over his head and tossing it across the room. He stepped toward me and wrapped his arms around me, resting his forehead on my shoulder. I hugged him to me and felt a tear drop on to my bare shoulder.

"Jack, baby, what's wrong?" I lifted his chin and made him look me in the eyes.

"I just can't believe that I have everything that I have ever wanted. I have a beautiful girl who I love and who loves me, I'm going on tour with the band that I've been with since the beginning but Ma's not here to see it happen. I miss her." Jack buried his head in my neck and let the tears flow freely. I held him to me and just let him cry himself out. When I finally felt him stop shaking I lifted his head and pressed a kiss to the middle of his forehead.

"Jack, I love you so much. I think Evelyn is always with us, looking down on us and smiling. She knows that you are happy and that we are together and everything else is going good for you. Those we love never really leave us. She would be proud of you if she could see the man that you've become." I smiled and he tightened his grip on me.

"I'm sorry. I'm not usually this much of a baby."

"Jack, don't ever apologize to me for showing emotion. If we are going to get married then I should be the one person that you feel safe sharing everything with. You are always the strong one. You have to let me be strong for you when you need to let go."

"I know. I've just never depended on any one else, totally. Ma and Bobby are the closest I've ever gotten to anyone, other than you." He smiled down at me and kissed my cheek. "You really are something else, Kat. I don't deserve you."

"We are each other's mutual admiration society aren't we?" I smiled up at him and he laughed.

"I'm being a bit of a sap aren't I?"

Instead of answering, I kissed his cheek, trailing my lips from there to his ear, gently nipping at the lobe, causing him to groan in appreciation. I continued trailing hot kisses from his ear, down his neck and across his chest, paying particular attention to teasing his nipples. He released a guttural moan when I nipped at each one in turn. He growled, picking me up and laying me down in the middle of our bed. He lay down next to me and ran his hand down my side, stopping to cup my breast and tease my nipple before leaning in to kiss me. He nibbled on my lower lip and sucked it gently into his mouth. I sighed, writhing with need.

"Jack…."

"I know baby. Be patient." He grinned at me, thoroughly enjoying the fact that he was in control. He rolled on top of me and I brought my legs up, wrapping them around his waist. I undid his zipper and wriggled my hand into his boxers. I gripped the base of his shaft and he bucked against my hand, involuntarily. "Impatient are we?" he smirked.

I stroked him slowly, teasing the head of his erection with my fingertips "I want you Mercer." I extricated my hand and pushed his pants and boxers down his legs in one swift movement. He kicked them off and they landed across the room, knocking over a vase in the process. I raked my nails down his back, trying to encourage him.

"We'll get there, hellkat. I promise." He pressed his lips against my neck and sucked hard, right under my ear. I growled as waves of heat radiated throughout my body. I knew there would be a giant bruise there in the morning but all I cared about right now was getting him to go faster. He was steadfastly ignoring my attempts to encourage him. He had his own agenda in mind and nothing I could do was going make him change that. Did I mention that Mercer's are stubborn? Jack being the worst of the bunch, I think, (Sofi and Camille might disagree with me but I think I'm right).

He kept teasing me, bringing me to the edge several times before he finally sank into me, releasing a guttural groan. We crashed over the brink at the same moment and after a few moments Jack rolled off of me. He curled up with his chest pressed to my back and we both fell sound asleep.

**XXX**

**Please Review!!! I like to know what you think, even if you don't like it. Let me know!!!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

A month later I was missing Jack something awful and decided to go see Bobby.

"Hey Kat." Bobby said as he opened the door. "You look like hell. Are you ok?"

"Thanks Bobby. Way to boost my self esteem. Yeah, I'm ok…I just miss him." I started sobbing and Bobby wrapped me in his arms, letting me cry on his shoulder. I finally stooped, looking at him apologetically. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to soak your shirt."

"That's alright, kitten."

"Kitten? You haven't called me that since…" I trailed off, going and sitting down in one corner of the couch.

"Since that night." He finished for me, sitting down next to me and wrapping his arms around me.

"Bobby…don't. I'm engaged to Jack." I sighed, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Do you really love him?"

"Yes…I mean, I think so. God, I don't know. When I'm with him, I only want to be with him, but then he leaves and then I think about you…us…God, it's been 5 years. You would think that I would have gotten over it…you…by now."

"Kat…"

"Yes Bobby?"

"I…I love you."

"Bobby, don't. We can't. It would KILL him. Why didn't you say something sooner?" I looked up at him with tears in my eyes, willing him to take it back yet wanting nothing more than to hear him say it again.

"I don't know. I guess I thought you were over me." He pulled me closer to him and I sighed.

"You never get over your first Bobby. You know that. Shit Bobby. Why are you doing this now?" I glared at him.

"I thought that maybe if you knew…"

"What? You thought that if I knew I would leave Jack and be with you? God, you have no idea how close I am to doing just that. Fuck, I have to get out of here."

I jumped up off of the couch and ran out the door. I got into my car and sped away from the Mercer house. I parked in front of my apartment and ran upstairs, collapsing on the couch once I got in the living room. _Why do things have to be so complicated? I mean I love Jack…don't I? I don't know. This whole Bobby thing changes everything. Does it really? You told him you loved him that night and he just left you. Didn't say anything, just left. Why does he want you now? Because he's scared of being alone? Or does he just want what his little brother has? Does he really love me?_

Just then I heard the front door open and I jumped up, moving towards the hall.

"Who's there?"

"It's me." I heard Tori's voice from the kitchen and I relaxed.

"Thank God. I thought it was Bobby." Tori walked out of the kitchen and looked at me.

"Why would it be Bobby?" Tori looked at me, confused.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure." She grabbed my hand and we walked back into the living room. We both sat down on the couch and she turned to look at me. "What happened?"

"I went to go see Bobby this afternoon because I was missing Jack."

"Ok. And?" she said after I hadn't spoken for a minute.

"He told me that he loved me." I looked at her, waiting for her reaction.

"Loves you how? As in like 'You're my little sister, I want to protect you' or as in 'I want to marry you and have your babies'?"

"He didn't mention babies but…"

"How could he do that to Jack? Wait…do you love him?" she looked at me in disbelief when I shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't know. I used to love him but I think I love Jack more. I'm so confused."

"There's more to this than just him saying he loves you, isn't there? You have some kind of history with him, don't you?"

"Yeah, you could say that. He was my first and…I thought that I …loved…him." I looked at her and sighed.

"Your first? Like as in he was the first guy that you slept with?" she looked at me and I smiled faintly.

"Yep."

"How did that happen?" she stared at me in disbelief.

"We went out for my eighteenth birthday and we were both tipsy and we went back to his house because no one was there. One thing led to another and I woke up the next morning curled up in his arms."

"So did you actually sleep with him?"

"Yeah I did. Afterwards I made the mistake of telling him that I loved him…or at least I thought I did at the time. He didn't respond and it broke my heart. I left him that morning and tried my hardest to forget the wonderful night that we shared."

"Does Jack know?"

"No. Nobody knew although I think Evelyn suspected because she pulled me aside the next time she saw me and gave me a hug telling me that everything would work out for the best. I didn't date seriously until I met Jack. I mean there were guys that I date and some that I even slept with but none that really got to me like either Jack or Bobby. I don't know what to do." I sighed again and buried my head in my hands.

"You need to go see Jack. You just have to pick up and go. The band is in Boston tomorrow. You have to go see him and figure this thing out." Tori exclaimed.

"I can't just go…I have work."

"Work? Your life is more important than work. You have to work this out and you have to see Jack to do it. Joe will understand. I'll cover your shifts."

"Thank you Tori. I'll call Joe right now and pack and go." I jumped up off of he couch and ran to go grab my phone. After calling Joe I went into my room and packed enough clothes to last me a week. A half an hour later I was on the road heading towards Boston. Twelve hours later I was there.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sarah."

"Oh my God. Kat! Where are you?"

"I'm in Boston!" I screeched and she squealed. "Where are you?"

"We just checked into the hotel. You have to come stay with us. Does Jack know you're here?"

"No and you can't tell him. I want to talk to you first and then I might go see Jack. We'll see."

"What do you mean "might" go see him? What's wrong?" I could hear the disbelief in her voice.

"I'll be in there in a few minutes and we will talk then, alright?"

"Ok. See you in a few."

Ten minutes later I pulled up outside of the Hyatt and Sarah came running out of the lobby. She jumped on me, hugging me until I couldn't breathe. She finally let me go and held me at arms length to look at me.

"You look like death warmed over. Come upstairs and you can tell me all about it, then get some sleep before the concert tonight." We rode the elevator up to the 5th floor and went quickly into her room because she wasn't sure when Jack would be back and I didn't want to run into him until I knew what was going on in my heart.

"So what happened?" Sarah asked as we sat down in chairs facing each other.

"You remember when we were in high school the whole 'Bobby' incident happened?"

"The whole 'you slept with him, told him you loved him and he broke your heart' incident? You cried about that for like 6 months, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did. Anyway, yesterday I was missing Jack and I went to go see Bobby 'cuz I thought for some stupid reason that he might be able to make me feel better. I got there and cried on his shoulder and that stupid, hard-headed, arrogant, son-of-a…" I shrieked, clamped my mouth shut and tried to breathe. Sarah waited patiently for me to calm down and I began again. "He told me he loved me and thought that I might leave Jack for him. I was honestly considering it for a few minutes and decided that I had to come see Jack to make sure that I feel about him what I thought I felt about him when he left."

"Wait, you mean that you are actually thinking about leaving Jack?" she looked at me, completely dumbfounded.

"I don't know. Not really. Maybe. I'm so confused." I groaned and hid my face in my hands.

"Does Jack know anything about you and Bobby?"

"He asked about the Fender but I brushed him off and he never asked again. Other than that there wasn't really an opening to tell him and I didn't feel like it was necessary because I thought that the thing between Bobby and I was finished and in the past. That's not an excuse. I should have told him. Bobby should have told him when he wanted to ask me out. Either way, Jack should have known what was going on and I should tell him." I jumped when I heard a door slam behind me. Aden walked in and stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed that I was there.

"Kat? What are you doing here? Does Jack know? Obviously he doesn't because I just left him and he didn't mention anything about you being here." Aden stared at me intently and I cringed under his gaze.

"Jack doesn't know I'm here. I was going to surprise him at the concert tonight. Do you think he'll be happy to see me?" I avoided his other question because I didn't feel up to explaining myself to anyone else right now.

"Hell yeah, he'll be fucking thrilled to see you." Aden smiled at me and I laughed.

"Thanks, that makes me feel better."

"Do you want to sleep for a while before the concert?" Sarah asked as she got up to grab a bottle of water from the mini-fridge in the corner.

"Yeah. That sounds like a great idea. I'll go check into my room and I'll meet you in the lobby at 6 alright?"

"Ok. See you then." I retrieved my bag from the corner and went back down to the lobby to check in.

"Ms. Wilson? We have your room booked on the 5th floor but there is a rather noisy rock band staying on that same floor. I can have your room moved if you would like?" the concierge at the front desk asked.

"No. That's alright. The band leader is my fiancé so trust me when I tell you that I know they are loud."

"Here is your room key. Check out is at 2pm tomorrow unless of course you decide to extend your stay with us."

"Thank you." I said as I grabbed the key and hastily made my way to the elevator. I got to my room without seeing Jack and collapsed gratefully on the bed, quickly falling asleep and waking only when the alarm went off on my phone. I got up, took a shower and very carefully did my make up, letting my hair air dry to the stick-straight way that it naturally was. I wore my favorite leather mini-skirt that was also Jack's favorite and a red spaghetti-strap tank top with black skulls across the chest. I met Sarah down in the lobby at precisely 6. She gave me the once over and heartily approved of what I was wearing. We walked across the street to the concert hall where the band was playing. They weren't opening for Evanescence tonight because there wasn't a scheduled concert. This was an impromptu concert that their manager had arranged once they were in Boston. Even so, the hall was crowded and Sarah and I had trouble getting to our seats without getting trampled by over-excited fans.

"Is it always like this?" I yelled into Sarah's ear, trying to be heard over the roar of the crowd.

"Yeah, pretty much. The guys are really starting to get famous and every night there's a concert they are playing to a sold out arena. A lot of that has to do with Evanescence but they have a very dedicated following. I'm so happy you're here to see this Kat." Sarah gushed at me and I smiled.

"Me too. I hope Jack is happy to see me." I fidgeted nervously in my seat, waiting for the concert to begin and my first glimpse of Jack in over a month.

Finally the lights dimmed and the crowd roared in anticipation. The curtains parted and a spotlight shone on Jack who raised his hands to get the crowds attention.

"We are trying out a new song tonight that Aden and I wrote last night and this morning. Hope you like it. We wrote it for our fiancés."

_**Well I was moving at the speed of sound. **_

_**Head-spinning, couldn't find my way around, and **_

_**Didn't know that I was going down. **_

_**Yeah, yeah. **_

_**Where I've been, well it's all a blur. **_

_**What I was looking for, I'm not sure. **_

_**Too late and didn't see it coming. **_

_**Yeah, yeah. **_

_**And then I crashed into you, **_

_**And I went up in flames. **_

_**Could've been the death of me, **_

_**But then you breathed your breath in me. **_

_**And I crashed into you, **_

_**Like a runaway train. **_

_**You will consume me, **_

_**But I can't walk away. **_

_**Somehow, I couldn't stop myself. **_

_**I just wanted to know how it felt. **_

_**Too strong, I couldn't hold on. **_

_**Yeah, yeah. **_

_**Now I'm just tryin' to make some sense **_

_**Out of how and why this happened. **_

_**Where we're heading, there's just no knowing. **_

_**Yeah, yeah. **_

_**And then I crashed into you, **_

_**And I went up in flames. **_

_**Could've been the death of me, **_

_**But then you breathed your breath in me. **_

_**And I crashed into you, **_

_**Like a runaway train. **_

_**You will consume me, **_

_**But I can't walk away. **_

_**From your face, your eyes **_

_**Are burning to me. **_

_**You saved me, you gave me **_

_**Just what I need. **_

_**Oh, just what I need. **_

_**And then I crashed into you, **_

_**And I went up in flames. **_

_**Could've been the death of me, **_

_**But then you breathed your breath in me. **_

_**And I crashed into you, **_

_**Like a runaway train. **_

_**You will consume me, **_

_**But I can't walk away. **_

_**And then I crashed into you, **_

_**And then I crashed into you, **_

_**And then I crashed into you, **_

_**And then I crashed into you, **_

_**And I crashed into you, **_

_**Like a runaway train. **_

_**You will consume me, **_

_**But I can't walk away**_

When the last note faded away the crowd erupted in cheers, Sarah and I being among the loudest in the crowd. She turned to me and grinned. "Those are OUR men up there."

"Yeah, they are, aren't they?" I smiled and hugged her. I had finally decided that Jack was the one that I wanted and Bobby would just have to get over me like I got over him. Who was I kidding, I wasn't over him but losing Jack wasn't an option. I loved him more than I ever loved Bobby and that was more than enough for me.

The band played through the rest of their set and the time seemed to fly by. Sarah and I waited around until all of the fans had dispersed and the guys came out to greet Sarah. Micah and Tim whooped when they saw me. Micah picked me up, twirling me around and setting me back down. "How are you Kat? Does Jack know that you're here?"

"No he doesn't. Where is he?" I asked, concerned that he wasn't with his band mates.

"He went out the back and up to his hotel room. He said he wasn't feeling well." Tim shrugged.

"He looked ok up until that last song. Then he looked like he was going to pass out." Micah said.

"I'll go up and check on him." I turned to walk away and Tim handed me a room key.

"He's in room 521."

"Thanks. Great concert guys. See you tomorrow." I smiled as I headed out the door and across the street, into the hotel. I went up the elevator and stopped outside of Jack's room. I heard moaning and then a high-pitched giggle but decided that it couldn't possibly be coming from Jack's room and opened his door.

The room was almost pitch-black, except for a tiny nightlight left on the bathroom. I saw Jack laid out flat on his back in the bed and someone kneeling on the bed next to him. Her head bobbed up and down and I heard Jack groan in pleasure. _What the fuck? Jack is cheating on me? After that song that he just sang? I'm going to fucking KILL him._ I backed out of the hotel room and fled down the hall to my room. I quickly re-packed my bag and checked out of the hotel in record time. Twenty minutes later I was on my way back home to Detroit.

**XXX**

**Obviously I don't own Daughtry…as much as I would like to. The song is Crashed.**

**Please review. Let me know what you think!!!!**


	10. Bobby

Chapter 10

Jack groaned when he woke up and tried to sit up. He stuck out a hand to try to push himself up off of the bed and shrieked when it came into contact with a warm body. _What the hell? Who is she?_ Jack shook her wake and she smiled when she saw his eyes staring down at her intently.

"Good morning."

"Who are you and what the FUCK are you doing in my room?" Jack yelled as he stormed across the room to put on the clothes that he discarded last night.

"I'm hurt that you don't remember what we did last night." The girl pouted and Jack cringed, trying to remember if anything had happened the night before. "You seemed to enjoy it…" she trailed off.

"All I remember from last night was feeling like crap after the concert, coming back here, taking a couple of sleeping pills and passing out. Whatever we did was totally involuntary. How did you get in here?" Jack continued to glare at her.

"My cousin let me in. He's a concierge at the front desk."

Just then there was a knock on the door and Jack just about jumped out of his skin.

"I know you two crazy kids missed each other but it's time to rejoin the living." Jack heard Aden call through the door. "We have a meeting in a half-hour."

Jack flung the door open and Aden stepped back in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"Where's Kat?" Aden looked at Jack confused

"Kat? Why would Kat be here?" Jack was at a total loss for words and rubbed his face trying to figure out what Aden was saying.

"Kat's not here? Did you two have a fight or something?"

"She isn't in Detroit?"

"No. She was at the concert last night and came over here afterwards to surprise you."

"Oh FUCK!" Jack screamed. Aden jumped in surprise. "Get dressed and get the Fuck out of my room." Jack walked back into the room, punching a hole in the wall in the process.

"Someone is in there with you? You fucking cheated on Kat?" Aden followed Jack into the room and he saw a pretty little blonde getting out of Jack's bed and hastily trying to put clothes on.

"Not on purpose. I took sleeping pills last night, you know I can't sleep well without Kat next to me, and her cousin let her into my room. Apparently we did stuff while I was passed out." Jack glared at the girl.

"You seriously expect me to believe that?" Aden glared at Jack.

"It's true." The girl piped up.

"Why in the hell would you do something like that?" Aden stared at the girl in disbelief.

"I don't know. I love the Spares and my cousin said that Jack didn't have a girlfriend with him so I thought I'd keep him company." The girl blushed and looked down at her feet.

"Apparently my fiancé saw us together last night. You stupid fucking…ARGH!" Jack growled. "Thanks for fucking up the best thing that ever happened to me."

"You have to go after her. Explain what happened. She'll understand." Aden pleaded with Jack, wanting to erase the pained look that his best friend wore.

"If you were in the same situation do you think Sarah would understand?" Jack looked at Aden hopefully.

"I don't know. You have to trust Kat to do the right thing. You have to tell her." By this time the girl was totally dressed and sidling towards the door.

"You're lucky I'm not having you arrested." Jack shot the girl a venomous glare and she fled from the room.

"Call Kat." Aden said as he sat down on a chair next to the bed. Jack flipped his phone open and pressed the number 2 speed-dial. He tried calling a dozen times in quick succession, not leaving a voicemail until the final time. _Baby. I'm sorry about last night. It wasn't what it looked like. The girl let herself into my room. I…Babe, you have to believe me. Please call me back. I love you._

Jack flipped his phone closed and stared at his phone. "She won't answer my calls."

"Let's go tell Sarah what happened. She might be able to get through to Kat." Aden suggested hopefully. They left Jack's room and went to go wake Sarah up. After explaining the situation to her, she tried calling but Kat still wasn't answering.

"I'll keep trying until she answers Jack. I promise." Sarah reached out and patted his arm, trying to be reassuring.

"I CAN'T lose her. She is the best thing that's EVER happened to me." Jack finally broke down and released the tears that had been threatening since he woke up that morning. He knew she was gone. She would NEVER forgive him for this. If by some miracle she did believe him, she still wouldn't take him back. She had warned him that if he cheated on her she would leave him without a second thought.

I looked down at my phone as it vibrated in the cup holder next to me. I was already in Detroit by the time Sarah called me. I was so angry that I drove a hundred miles per hour the whole way home, only stopping for gas twice. After crying for the first half of the trip I knew what I was going to do once I got home. I pulled into the driveway of the Mercer house. I glanced at the clock and after noting that it was 4 am I climbed out of the car. I went in the front door. I didn't even need to unlock the door, honestly, who was stupid enough to break in to the Mercer's house? I slipped up the stairs as quietly as possible and stood outside of Bobby's door, hesitating for only a moment. I opened the door and took in the sight of Bobby's naked back with "NO MERCY" tattooed across his shoulder blades. Bobby must have heard me open the door and he rolled over. "Kat?" he mumbled sleepily.

**XXX**

**Please let me know what you think. I know it's short…sorry. It was a good place to break the chapter.**


	11. Shit Hits the Fan

Chapter 11

"Shush, don't talk." I said as I walked over to the bed, placing my fingers on his lips. He looked up at me with wide eyes and smiled.

"You came back?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I came back. It's you I want to be with." I wasn't sure if I wanted him only for the night or forever but I was going to have him if it killed me. I took my engagement ring off and put it on the nightstand next to the bed.

"What about Jack?" he questioned, confused.

"What about him?" I said as I stripped out of my clothes and got into bed next to Bobby.

"Does he know?"

"What did I say? No talking." I kissed him, forestalling anything else he might have said. He wrapped me in his arms and kissed me ferociously, almost violently. He bit my neck, marking his territory and sucked **hard** on my neck, right below my ear. I knew there would be a horrible looking bruise there in the morning but I didn't care. It would serve Jack right. Why was I thinking about Jack? That was **over** and I knew he didn't want me any more. I tried to concentrate on what Bobby was doing. He had moved his attention from my neck to my breasts, biting each nipple in turn and sucking it into his mouth. I was writhing with need under him and I pressed my hips up against his, feeling his erection straining at the opening in his boxers. Just then his cell phone rang and he jumped, surprised. He reached for the phone and I grabbed his head in my hands, making him look at me.

"Don't answer it." I pleaded. "I need you." I kissed him deeply, running the tip of my tongue over his lips. He grabbed the cell phone and flipped it open, pressing the off button and throwing it across the room. He groaned and kissed me back, wrapping his arms firmly around my waist. I heard a shrill noise pierce the air and this time I jumped. Someone answered the house phone quickly and a moment later Angel came barging into the room, flipping on the light.

"Bobby…" Angel said stopping once he realized that I was in the room. "What the fuck? Jack, I'll have him call you back." Angel pressed the end button and cut Jack off in the middle of his protest. "Kat?…Bobby? This is some fucked up shit." Angel glared from me and back to Bobby, obviously waiting for some kind of explanation. I moved away from Bobby and pulled the sheet up under my chin.

"Would either of you care to explain why my little brother just called…crying?" Angel glared at Bobby.

"I don't know. Kat?" He looked at me questioningly.

"He's the one that cheated on me. What the fuck he has to cry about, I don't know." I hissed and glared back at Angel.

"Wait…so you're just using me to get back at Jack?" Bobby shook his head in disbelief.

"No Bobby, it's not like that. I love you. It took seeing Jack with another girl for me to realize that he and I would never work. You are the one that I want." I grabbed his head in my hands and looked deeply into his eyes, willing him to believe me, I wasn't sure if **I** believed me and it must have shown in my eyes because he pulled away from me.

"You need to get dressed Kat. We'll talk about this after I talk to Jack." Bobby said as he got out of bed. He walked over to where his cell phone rested on the floor. I got out of the bed and put my clothes on. I went down stairs and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. Bobby came down stairs a few minutes later.

"Jack's on his way here. I'm picking him up at the airport at 8. I think you should be there with me."

"What? Why?" I glared at him defiantly. "I don't have anything to say to him."

"I think you should hear him out." Bobby looked at me sadly and I sighed.

"Of course you would say that. You're his brother."

"I'm the **one** person that doesn't want you guys together and if I say that you should hear him out…" Bobby trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

"But I want **you** Bobby. Not Jack." I looked up at him with tears in my eyes and he walked over to me, kneeling down in front of the chair that I was sitting in. He looked deeply in to my eyes trying to read what I was feeling.

"You are hurt and pissed off. You need to finish this thing with Jack before we even think about whatever this is between us. You owe it to him."

"I don't owe him anything." I shrieked, jumping up from my chair and storming towards the door.

"You at least need to tell him that it's over. Do this for me. Come with me to the airport." Bobby looked at me pleadingly, dark brown eyes filled with worry. "Please?"

"You've never asked me for anything…" I said, uncertainly.

"I know. Please do this for me?" Bobby waited for me to respond but I couldn't. He finally realized that he wasn't going to get an answer from me and went up stairs to get dressed. I sat down on the couch, turned on the TV and stared at it blankly until Bobby came back down stairs.

"Are you coming with me?" Bobby asked and he grabbed his keys off of the coffee table. I nodded numbly and stood to follow him.

We got to the airport at 7:30 and sat there waiting for Jack. He walked out of the doorway and I couldn't suppress the tears that streamed down my face. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. His hair was plastered to his scalp and his clothes were wrinkled, even more than normal. Overall he looked like shit and I felt bad for him. Then I realized that it was his own fault that he felt that way. I hadn't done anything wrong. _That's not true. You almost slept with his brother. You call that not doing anything?_ A little voice in the back of my head protested.

"Bobby, thanks for bringing her." Jack looked at me and I could see the haunted look in his eyes. "Kat…I…" he trailed off in to silence, obviously not knowing what to say. I could see the hurt and fear in his eyes and I almost reached out to him. I suppressed the reaction, making my fingers twitch where they rested against my leg. Jack noticed and a little bit of the fear receded from his eyes. "You didn't see what you thought you saw in the hotel room."

"Really? I didn't see my ex-fiancé getting a blow-job from some random groupie?" I screeched at him and he visibly recoiled as if I had hit him.

"Maybe you did…I don't know." Jack shrugged and I resisted the urge to slap him.

"What do you mean 'you don't know'? How can you not know what you did?" I glared at him and he looked up from the nail he had been picking at nervously.

"I took some sleeping pills after the show and I passed out. The chick's cousin let her in to my room earlier and she did stuff to me when I was out of it. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken the pills but I just don't sleep well when you aren't there." Jack looked at me pleadingly and I bit my lip, thinking about what he said.

"Fuck." I muttered under my breath. "Since we're being honest here…I have something to tell you." Bobby whipped his head around to look and me and shook his head slightly. I ignored him and pressed on with what I was saying. "I should have told you sooner but Bobby and I slept together when I was 18. He was my first, Jack." I looked up at him, waiting for his reaction. A range of emotions washed across his face, each one gone before I could identify it. He looked at Bobby as if expecting him to deny it. He looked back at me and really looked at me for the first time.

"Jack, we should have told you." Bobby reached out to his brother but Jack swatted his hand away.

"What the fuck is that on your neck? Who did that?" Jack glared at Bobby and then at me.

"Jack…I was hurt…I shouldn't have…Bobby didn't know what he was doing…" I could see the reflection of Jack's heart in his eyes and saw when it ripped in two.

"Do you love him?" Jack let out a feral growl full of anguish and turned away from us.

"I don't know Jack." I muttered.

"How do you not know something like that? I loved you with my whole heart Katrina and I **thought** you felt the same way about me."

"Jack…I do love you…wait, you're the one that cheated on me…why does this all of a sudden feel like it's all my fault?" I glared at him and he turned around to look me in the eyes.

"You **slept** with **my** brother and are still 'maybe' in love with him? That part is your fault Kat. Not only that, you came home and jumped right in to bed with him…before I even had a chance to explain what happened. Fuck. I can't deal with this shit right now. I'm going back to Boston. If you feel the need to call me, don't." Jack turned on his heel and walked away from us. I broke down sobbing and Bobby held me while I cried.

"Oh my God…what have I done?" I whispered into his shoulder.

We walked back to the car and drove to the Mercer's. I got out of Bobby's car and got into my own. I drove home, not noticing anything around me and when I got there I went upstairs and collapsed on my bed. I lay there until I heard the front door open.

"What are you doing home?" she asked as she walked back to my room. Seeing me curled up in a ball on my bed, shaking, she dropped her purse and rushed over to me. "Kat? What happened?"

"It's over." I sobbed.

"How is it over? Hon, what happened?"

"He cheated on me, I came back here, almost slept with Bobby, Jack came back, I told him I might still be in love with Bobby, he saw the hickey on my neck, flipped out and flew back to Boston."

"There are so many questions involved in just that one sentence that I don't even know where to begin." She looked down at me and I smiled faintly.

"How did my life get so fucked up?" I explained the whole thing, from arriving in Boston up until coming home and passing out. She listened the whole way through, not interrupting once.

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I finish school in the fall and I think I might move to North Carolina to find a teaching job. There's nothing for me in Detroit anymore." I sighed and curled up into a ball, hugging my legs to my chest.

"Don't say that. Your family is still here my mom and dad, me. I don't know what I'd do without you Kat." Tori looked down at me with tears in her eyes.

"You'll be fine. It's not like I won't ever come back." I tried to sound reassuring but failed miserably, my voice cracking on the last word. Tori started crying and seeing her tears brought fresh ones to my eyes. "I love you Tori. You're like the little sister that I never had. I promise I'll come back during breaks ok? I just can't be here. It reminds me of Jack and Bobby." I rested my forehead on her thigh and sniffled.

"Alright, but only if you promise to come back." I was absolutely exhausted and fell asleep very quickly after that.

Jack arrived back in Boston around 5pm, which spared him from having to go to the "motivational" meeting that was always held before a show. He wearily took the elevator up to his hotel room and threw his bag in the corner. Lying down on the bed, he called Aden to let him know that he was back. Two minutes later, Aden and Sarah came bursting through the door, anxious to hear what had happened. Sitting up, he moved to one of the two chairs situated at the end of the bed.

"Jack?" Sarah questioned tentatively.

"I can't deal with this right now, alright?" Jack growled.

"Ok. Just know that we are here for you." Aden said, laying his hand on Jack's shoulder.

"Sarah, did you know about Kat and Bobby?" Jack asked, resigning himself to getting this out of his system before the show that night.

"I know that they slept together when she was 18. She told him that she loved him and he was gone the next morning when she woke up. He was in prison for a couple of years after that but for her 19th birthday he sent her that Fender Strat. that she loves so much. I think it was his way of apologizing." Sarah stopped talking and Jack looked up at her.

"How did she take him leaving?"

"She was absolutely devastated. There wasn't a night that she didn't cry herself to sleep for almost 3 months. It took her almost a year before she was back to the happy-go-lucky girl that I knew so well and then that…that…**bastard **sent her the guitar on the one-year anniversary of that night. No contact at all and then to get that out of the blue. He broke her heart all over again. Once he got out of prison he came to see her, they talked and he decided that it would be best if they try to act like nothing had happened between them. She agreed both for her own sanity and because some contact with the family that she loved so much as a child was better than nothing. She dated other guys off and on but never really got attached to any of them…until she met you. She loves you Jack, more than she ever loved Bobby." Sarah finished and flopped down on the chair next to Jack's.

"Why did she come to Boston?" Jack questioned, looking like a dog that had just been kicked.

"Apparently a couple of days ago, she was missing you and went over to see Bobby. He told her that he loved her, practically told her to leave you for him, and she came out here to reassure herself that she was doing the right thing in refusing him." Jack laid his head in his hands and sighed.

"I can't believe that the two people that I loved the most in the whole god-damned world other than Ma would do this to me."

"She didn't do this to you. Granted, she should have told you but really…what business is it of yours? This was between her and Bobby. She chose you, not him. That's what she was going to tell you, before she walked in on you and that girl. He was her past. You were supposed to be her future." Sarah stared at him accusingly and he flinched.

"How do I fix this?" it was a purely rhetorical question but Aden answered anyway.

"You need to sit down with her and talk. Get everything out in the open. Give her a chance to apologize and you do the same. How you're going to get her to talk to you is beyond me but if you really love her, you have to fight for her."

"She fucking cheated on me with my BROTHER!" Jack exclaimed, letting out a howl of anguish.

"How did she cheat on you if she didn't even know you?" Sarah asked, confused.

"When I got there I saw that he had this giant ass hickey on her neck…in her favorite spot…and when I asked her about it she said that Bobby did it." He growled and Sarah flinched away from the pain in his voice.

"She wouldn't do that." Sarah protested quietly.

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"No…it's just…but…she loves you… she would never do anything to…"

"Yeah well she did." Jack said, cutting her off. "I'm fucking through with her. She can fucking have Bobby for all I care. Tell her that…the next time you talk to her." Jack stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door. Sarah and Aden retreated to their room to leave Jack to get ready for the concert that night.

**XXX**

**Thanks to Extraho for all of the wonderful reviews!!!!! They help to keep me motivated!!!! **


	12. Should She?

\/p>

Chapter 12

It was six months later and Jack walked into the front door of the Mercer house, throwing his bag on the floor and leaning his guitar case up against the wall.

"Jack?" Angel got up from the couch and came over to him, wrapping him in a bear hug. "How you doin' man?"

"Good, Ang. How 'bout you?" Jack sat down on the couch just as Bobby came in the room. Bobby eyed Jack warily like a male lion sizing up a wounded wildebeest afraid that at any moment he might be run through with nasty pointed horns. "Bobby…I've missed you man." Jack got up from the couch and walked over to Bobby, giving him a hug.

"You're speaking to me now?" Bobby asked, confused by the change in Jack's attitude.

"You're my brother. No chick is going to change that." Jack cringed inwardly at calling Kat a chick but he would do whatever he had to do to get his brother talking to him again. "Besides, it's almost Christmas. You can't be mad at family during the holidays." Jack grinned and Bobby smiled back at him, hesitantly.

"Hey Ang. Who's playing?" Bobby asked, sitting down in the chair across from the TV.

"The Blues and the Wings. Wings are winning." The tension suddenly evaporated and it was just like old times. Sofi made dinner and afterwards Jack announced that he was going to go get a drink. He borrowed Bobby's car and slowly drove over to Kat's apartment. He climbed the stairs and tentatively knocked on the door. Tori answered and stood there for a minute just looking at him.

"What do you want Jack?" she leaned against the door, showing no sign of letting him in.

"Is Kat here?"

"No."

"Do you know when she'll be back?"

"She said something about being home for New Year's. Why?" Tori looked at him suspiciously.

"Wait…what?"

"She doesn't live here anymore Jack." Tori rolled her eyes in frustration. "If you had talked to her at all in the last 6 months you would have known that."

"Where does she live now?" Jack asked, confused.

"Hickory, North Carolina."

"North Carolina…why would she move there?"

"I don't know. Maybe you should talk to **her**." Tori moved to close the door but Jack shoved his foot in before she got the door completely closed. "What Jack?"

"What is her phone number?"

"It's the same one that it was when she was here." Tori closed the door in Jack's face and he turned and walked down the stairs, totally dejected. _Why would she move all the way to North Carolina? What's there for her that isn't here? Maybe she moved to get away from memories of this place? Maybe she moved to get away from you?_ A little voice in the back of his head tormented him. Jack drove back home and went to find Bobby. He was laying on his bed, with his arms crossed behind his head listening to some music.

"Bobby…can I talk to you for a minute?" Jack knocked on the doorframe hesitantly.

"Sure Fairy. What's up?" Bobby sat up and Jack sat down on the edge of the bed, studiously avoiding looking at Bobby.

"Did…what…Why did Kat move?"

"I'm not really sure. I've only talked to her once in the last 6 months and that was to say goodbye. She came over the day before she left, hugged everyone and just…left." Bobby said, sadly.

"Do you still love her?" Jack searched Bobby's face, looking for the truth.

"Jack…no. I don't." Bobby lied, hoping to keep the truth out of his eyes. "She's your girl Jack."

"No she's not. I'm sure she's probably over me." Jack hung his head dejectedly.

"You'll never know until you talk to her." Bobby reached over and patted Jack on the shoulder. "Go get your woman."

"You really think I should?"

"God damn it Jack. Would I say that if I didn't think you should?" Bobby cringed inwardly. His baby brother deserved to be happy, even if it broke his heart to give Kat up. Jack should at least have a chance to win her back.

"I'll be back before Christmas." Jack jumped up. Now that he had a plan he was eager to put it in to motion. "Do you have her address?"

"Yeah, she sent us a Christmas card with all of that stuff in it. It's on the mantle downstairs." Jack shot down the stairs and grabbed the card, reading the inscription he smiled.

_Hope everything's going well for ya'll. God, did I really just write ya'll? Anywho, things are great here. Hope to see ya'll when I come home over break. I miss ALL of you. Love, Kat. XO_

The ALL was starred and triple underlined. She sounds like a country hick now. Jack dialed the airport's number and quickly made reservations to fly in to Raleigh-Durham and rent a car to drive the rest of the way to Hickory…wherever that was.

"Bobby…I'm leaving. See you later." Jack called as he grabbed his bag and guitar from the foyer.

"Wait Jack. I'll drive you." Bobby said, coming down the stairs and grabbing his coat.

"Oh yeah…I guess I do need a ride to the airport. I forgot. Thanks Bobby."

A half hour later they got to the airport and Jack made it through security just before the last boarding call was announced.

_This is the brand spanking new single from the Spares_ the radio announcer said and my finger moved to change the station but the song had already started. The moment I heard Jack's voice I started to cry and then I actually started listening to the words of the song…

_I remember the way you made love to me_

_Like I was all you'd ever need_

_Did you change your mind_

_Well I didn't change mine_

_Now here I am trying to make sense of it all_

_We were best friends now we don't even talk_

_You broke my heart_

_Ripped my world apart_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you, baby_

_I gave you everything, every part of me_

_Didn't you feel it when I touched you_

_Didn't I rock you when I loved you, baby_

_Baby, tell me_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you_

_I can't get you out of my head_

_I still feel you in this bed_

_Left me all alone_

_You couldn't be more gone_

_From falling apart to fighting mad_

_From wanting you back to not giving a Damn_

_I've felt it all_

_I've been to the wall_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you, baby_

_I gave you everything, every part of me_

_Didn't you feel it when I touched you_

_Didn't I rock you when I loved you, baby_

_Baby, tell me_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you_

_One day justice will come and find you_

_And I'll be right there in your memory to remind you_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you, baby_

_I gave you everything, every part of me_

_Didn't you feel it when I touched you_

_Didn't I rock you when I loved you, baby_

_Baby, tell me_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you, baby_

_I gave you everything, every part of me_

_Didn't you feel it when I touched you_

_Didn't I rock you when I loved you, baby_

_Baby, tell me_

_I gave you everything, every part of me_

Oh my god. Jack. What did I do to you? I cried silently all the way to school. I couldn't believe how much I hurt him...how much I missed him. I parked in my normal spot in the front of the lot and made my way in to my classroom. The students were all hyperactively excited because it was a Friday as well as a half day, but they stopped talking the minute I came in the room.

"Ms. Wilson?"

"Yes Katie?" I looked at her and tried to smile.

"Are you alright? Your mascara's running."

"Yes I'm fine. I'll be right back." I fled down the hall to the teacher's lounge and looked at my self in the mirror. No wonder they stopped talking. I looked like hell. My mascara and eyeliner had made tracks down both of my cheeks ad I looked like a raccoon. I washed my face and re-applied my eye makeup. I walked back down the hall and went to the front of the room. "Is that better?" I asked sarcastically and the class tittered.

"Yes, much." Katie said.

"I'm going to give you a free period today. Tom, go turn the radio on, but please keep the noise to a dull roar. Remember, you still have an exam on Monday." The class groaned, but was almost silent for the rest of the period, studying for the exam. About ten minutes before the bell rang the Spares song came on and I started crying again, not quite as bad as in the car but I knew that I would have to go fix my make-up for the third time in one morning.

"I love this new song!" Liz exclaimed from her seat in the back row.

"God the lead singer is so gorgeous…what's his name again?" Carrie asked.

"Isn't it like Joe or John or something?" Katie piped up.

"Jack…" I said and all eyes instantly turned towards me. "His name is Jack Mercer." I got up and walked over to one of the sinks in the lab area. I grabbed a paper towel, wetting it and wiping the mascara runs off of my cheeks, yet again.

"Do you know him?" Katie asked.

"I…" I was interrupted as the intercom beeped.

_Ms. Wilson?_

"Yes?"

_There is a visitor in the office, here to see you. Shall I send them in? _

"Sure." I said, confused. Who would be visiting me at school?

A couple of minutes later the classroom door opened and in walked Jack. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. His hair was longer than the last time I had seen him and it hung in his eyes, making him constantly run his hands through it to brush it out of his face. He was very skinny, even for him, practically emaciated; he'd lost at least twenty pounds in the last 6 months. He had on his faded black leather jacket with a black t-shirt and jeans that had holes strategically ripped all over them. It took only a few seconds for me to take in the sight that was Jack and by then the class had erupted in an explosion of talking and giggling.

"Class." I said in my most commanding voice and they stopped talking, looking between Jack and me waiting to see what would happen.

Jack just stood there, blushing furiously and smiling faintly.

"Class…this is Mr. Mercer." I said.

"We know who he is. You rock!" Josh said, staring at Jack with awestruck eyes. The bell rang and for once the class was reluctant to leave.

"You have to leave. You are going to be late for your next class." I said as I ushered them towards the door. Once the last student left I locked the door and turned to look at Jack. My breath caught in my throat as I locked stares with him. His beautiful sea-green eyes stared at me intensely and I sighed.

"I heard your new song this morning."

"What did you think?" Jack asked, his voice rough…with…anger…pain? I wasn't sure.

"I…Jack…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you like that." I started crying for the third time this morning. "I'm going to have to fix my make-up for the 4th time in ONE morning." I sighed in frustration.

"Baby, don't cry." He walked to me and wrapped his arms around me. I started sobbing even harder and buried my head in his neck.

"Jack…I've missed you so much." I put my arms around his waist and linked my hands together, unwilling to let him go. He tightened his hold on me and I tried to wriggle even closer to him. "Wait, what are you doing here? How did you know where I was?" I looked up at him.

"Bobby."

"Bobby told you where I was?"

"He gave me the Christmas card that you sent them and I Googled you. It wasn't that hard." He rested his cheek on the top of my head.

"But why are you here?"

"Kat, I still love you." Sobs wracked my body at the sound of his words. I just couldn't believe it. "Oh God, Kat. Please don't cry. I'm sorry I hurt you baby. I didn't mean to. I was just hurt and angry. I'm over it now, though. Bobby told me he doesn't feel the same way any more and I don't feel guilty being with you."

"Guilty…why would you feel guilty?"

"If Bobby was still in love with you it would have been wrong for us to be together. It would have driven us, me and Bobby, apart eventually and as important as you are to me, I would NEVER consciously hurt my brother."

"I know. Your brother's mean the world to you, and they should. I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you about…"

Jack effectively silenced me by kissing me. He pressed his lips to mine, tentatively, hesitantly, as if I might refuse him. I grabbed his head in my hands, deepening the kiss and pressing the full length of my body up against him. Jack moaned into my mouth and wrapped his arms around my back, pulling me as close to him as he could. He broke off the kiss and nuzzled my neck, biting down on a spot right behind my earlobe.

"Jack."

"mmhmm" he mumbled into my neck.

"Jack…stop." I groaned when he ignored my request and transferred his attention to the other side of my neck, placing another bite in the same spot.

"Nuh-uh." He said, placing kisses down my throat, stopping at my collarbone. The bell rang and Jack jumped. "Shit…you still have class don't you?"

"Yes." I said as I walked to the door and opened it letting in my 12th grade AP Anatomy class. Jack stood next to the door, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"That's Jack Mercer!" John exclaimed, pointing. The rest of the class filed in, took their seats and stared at Jack.

"Hey." Jack said, waving shyly at the class.

"What's he doing here?" John asked. I knew he was a huge Spares fan because he wore one of their t-shirts like every other day.

"He's…here…to…um…" I stuttered, trying to think of a reason to tell them that didn't involve the truth because it wasn't any of their business.

"I'm here to apologize to the love of my life for being stubborn and unforgiving." Jack said, astonishing me.

"Mr. Mercer. Would you please take a seat at the back of the class? We will discuss this later. Class, please move to the lab area and continue the shark dissections we began on Wednesday. Your completed diagram is due at the end of class." I said, trying to ignore the stares of amazement and disbelief that my class was giving me.

"You mean we still have to dissect?"

"Yes, Christina, you still have to dissect. Mr. Mercer's presence doesn't change any of that. Retrieve your sharks from the bucket in the back and begin." I glared at them and they slowly started to comply. I walked over to where Jack was sitting, scrunched up in a desk that was obviously about half the size that he would have needed to be comfortable.

"I'm sorry. I just needed to get them distracted from you being here." I leaned over, whispering in his ear. I heard a giggle and turned to find the whole class staring at me. "You aren't going to get any work done today are you?" I asked and they all shook their heads.

"It's not every day that we get to meet a rockstar." Christina said.

"Alright. You don't have to dissect. You can talk amongst yourselves but keep it to a dull roar…please?" I turned the radio on and for the third time that morning I heard that awful song. I started crying yet again and fled from the room, walking quickly towards the teacher's lounge. I heard footsteps behind me and Jack grabbed my arm, turning me around to face him.

"Kat…what's wrong?" Jack looked down at me.

"It's that song…your song. I can't hear it without thinking about that day at the airport and the look in your eyes when you left me." At this point I was sobbing, almost to the point of hysterics.

"That is what I wrote it about so it makes sense that you would think about that. I'm sorry that it hurts you…now…but that's what I wrote it to do. I was devastated…I didn't sleep for more than 4 hours a night for almost 3 months. Hell, I still don't sleep well. You have to be in my life Kat. I'm a wreck without you." He wrapped his arms around me and held me until I stopped shaking.

"Jack, I don't know how this can work. You live in California, I live here. We would never see each other."

"You could move out there with me?" Jack suggested hopefully.

"Wait…you want me to drop everything and move to California?" I stared at him in disbelief. "I would only know the guys in band, I wouldn't have a job and I would be more than a thousand miles away from all of my family. How can you ask me something like that?"

"What did you think was going to happen when we got married, Kat? Did you think that I would just let you live in Detroit and come visit every couple of months?" he glared at me and I cringed.

"I never really thought about it. I guess I assumed that the band's home base would be in Detroit." I admitted sheepishly, staring at a speck of dirt on the floor.

"We can worry about the details later. What I want to know now it whether or not you are willing to take me back?" he searched the depths of my eyes and I closed them so that he couldn't see what I was thinking. He waited patiently for me to respond and I didn't disappoint.

"Jack, it's not a matter of taking you back…there's not a day that's gone by that I haven't missed you and wanted to be with you…even when you didn't want me." I sighed and buried my head in his shoulder.

"Kat, it wasn't that I didn't want you…I just couldn't be with you when I thought that you were in love with my brother. I wanted to give you two a chance to be together without me being in the way. Since you took off rather than being with Bobby, it gave me hope that you didn't love him…that maybe you really did love me and the whole thing with Bobby was just to get back at me for cheating on you."

"Baby, I'm sorry that I did what I did with Bobby. I never really loved him. I thought that I did but I didn't. What I felt for him was just one cell in the billions of cells in my heart, the rest of which belong to you." I stopped rambling at stood there just looking up in to Jack's eyes, trying to read the emotions reflected from those sea-green depths.

"You are a dork. Cells? Only you would compare your feelings to biology." Jack laughed at me, heedless of the glare that I was giving him. He laughed until tears were streaming down his face and he had to lean up against the wall to keep from falling over.

"Shut up!" I punched him lightly in the arm and he just laughed harder. "I think that's what I missed most about you…you make me laugh at myself." I said, giggling. I leaned in, kissing him on the cheek and smiled. "I have to get back to my class. We only have one more period left and then we can go get lunch or something."

"Alright. I'll sit in the back of the class and try not to interrupt." He grabbed my hand and we walked back into my classroom together. From the way that the class was sitting, absolutely silently and staring straight ahead, I knew that they had been watching us in the hall.

"Ya'll were listening in the hallway…weren't you?" I saw a smattering of blushing faces and one or two nods. This confirmed what I had thought and I smiled. "Fine, you think you know everything? For the last five minutes of class write down, on a blank sheet of paper, what you think I should do about this whole situation. It will be worth 5 extra credit points. Don't put our name on it. Everyone who's here today will get credit."

Jack raised his hand from the back of the room. "Yes, Mr. Mercer?" I glared at him, warning him to behave.

"Can I have a piece of paper?" Jack grinned at me and I rolled my eyes. I took a blank piece of paper out of the computer tray and handed it to him, along with one of my sparkly pink pens. I smirked at him and he grinned again. God I love it when he grins. Five minutes later the bell rang, signaling the end of the half-day and everyone handed me their papers as they filed out the door. Jack was the last one to hand me his paper and I happened to glance down at it. I didn't intend to read any of them right then but I caught the word marry out of the corner of my eye and so I **had** to read the rest of it.

_Kat, _

_I'm sorry I've been such an ass to you. I hope that you can forgive me. If you can, will you marry me?_

_Your Rockstar_

The 'your' was triple underlined and he had traced it several times making it obvious where he wanted the emphasis placed. I looked up; only to see Jack's eyes boring in to mine, not letting me look away.

"Jack…"

**XXX**

**Please review, whether you like it or not…should she say yes, no, maybe? Let me know!**

**The song is Kellie Pickler's but I pictured Jack singing it in an emo/punk Linkin Park kind of way. It's corny but that's what I thought.**


	13. Her Answer

**Forgive me. Some of this chapter is sappy/cheesy/melodramatic. Sorry. Hope you like it anyway.**

"Jack...yes. I will marry you. I have to finish out this ear of teaching but I will move out to California with you. You are the only man in the whole world that I would do that for so consider yourself lucky." I smiled up at him and he leaned down to kiss me. Just then Lexi came bouncing in to the classroom , stopping dead in her tracks when she saw Jack.

"Holy shit...that's Jack Mercer." She stared at him and then glared at me accusingly. "How do you know him?"

"Remember that I told you about the guy Jack that I was engaged to?"

"Yeah?"

"This is that Jack."

"Oh...what's he doing here?"

"He just proposed again." I smiled when her jaw dropped open. "I said yes." I laughed and Jack smiled at me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"So I guess that means that I need to find a new roommate, huh?"

"I won't be leaving until the end of the summer so I'll help you look for one if you want."

"Thanks. Are we still going up to Detroit on Monday?" Lexi asked, hopefully.

"Yeah, why wouldn't we be?"

"I don't know...with Jack here I thought you might be going up sooner."

"No. Our plans are still the same. Do you want to drive up with us?" I turned to Jack and he cocked his head to the side as if debating whether to come with us or not.

"Sure. I'm always up for a road-trip. Sounds like fun."

"So what are you doing with the rest of your half-day?" I asked Lexi, who blushed and looked at the floor.

"Dan asked me to go out to lunch with him so I'll be doing that." She smiled and I laughed.

"It's about time. You two have been dancing around each other for the last 6 months. I thought hell would freeze over before he asked you out. Have fun and I'll see you later." Lexi bounced out of the room with her customary bubbliness.

"Wow. Is she always like that?" Jack stared after her, shaking his head slightly.

"What...you mean the whole 'two-year-old on pixie-sticks' thing? Yeah, she's always like that." I smiled. "You two should get along great...you are so much alike." Jack snorted in indignation and I giggled. "You can be that way some times and you know it."

"Yeah. So...how about lunch?"

"Sure. What do you want to eat?"

"You." Jack said, tightening his hold on my waist and gently nipping at my neck. I groaned and moved my head so that he had better access to my neck.

"Funny. What do you want for lunch?"

"whmhr" Jack mumbled, continuing his attention to my neck.

"That's not a word." I protested. "How about pizza? There's this cute little Italian place next to my house."

"Whatever. And then we go back to your place to celebrate." He led the way out of the room and out to my car. We got in and I drove to the restaurant. Sitting down in a booth in the corner, I looked at Jack and smiled.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"So, how's the band doing?"

"Good. Our first CD comes out on the 2nd and we have a release party in New York that we are all supposed to go to. I was wondering if you wanted to go with me." Jack looked at me expectantly and I nodded.

"Classes don't start again until the 5th so I can be there." Our pizza arrived and we ate in silence, looking at each other every few minutes as if we couldn't believe that we were really sitting together, just eating. Jack finished his third piece of pizza and smiled.

"That was great. Probably the best lunch I've had in the last 6 months." I grinned at him.

"That probably has more to do with the company than it does the pizza."

Jack paid for lunch and we left, taking the other half of the pizza home with us. We pulled up outside of my house and Jack just sat in the car, staring at it.

"What? You act like you've never seen a house before."

"This place... it...it makes me think about what kind of place we'll live in once we get married." At the word married my stomach flip-flopped but in an excited 'I've got butterflies' kind of way.

"Are you sure you're ready to get married? I mean, you would be giving up a lot to be with me." I looked at him and he turned to stare at me.

"What? Are you saying that you don't want to be with me?" Jack asked.

"No, that's not what I'm saying at all. I'm just trying to make sure that you are willing to give up the one night stands and some of the partying lifestyle that goes along with being a first class rock star."

"Those things are what convinced me that I wanted to be with you. I partied as hard as I could for 6 months before coming to the realization that I was only partying like that to try to forget you. I wasn't happy with anything or anybody. I couldn't sleep and I lost my appetite. I need you." Jack looked at me, longing evident in his bloodshot eyes.

"Jack, let's go inside. It's a little cold out here." I said as I shivered slightly.

"Baby, I'm sorry. Of course you're cold with that short skirt on. I'm surprised you didn't say something sooner." Jack shrugged out of his leather jacket and draped it around my shoulders. I breathed in deeply, catching a whiff of Jack's cologne mixed with his own unique smell. It reminded me of the mountains in springtime right before a rainstorm.

"Thanks." I said as I opened the door and got out, heading up the front walk. Jack got out and followed me, only catching up to me once I had opened the door and walked inside. I slowly took his coat off and hung it up on a coat-rack next to the door. I stared at the coat, thinking about how I never expected to see it hanging in this house.

"You act like you've never seen a coat before." Jack said, walking through the door and closing it behind him. He walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his head on my shoulder. I turned around and pressed my body tight against his.

"I want you Jack." I pressed my lips to his, probing his lips with the tip of tongue. He allowed me entrance and I tasted him, running my tongue over his stud. He groaned and ran his hands up my back, holding my head in his hands. After a few moments he pulled back from the kiss and looked me in the eyes.

"If we do this I'm never going to be able to let you go again. You will be mine forever." Instead of answering him I grabbed him by the hand and pulled him down the hall and in to my bedroom, closing and locking the door behind us. I pushed him up against the wall and placed a trail of kisses from his lips to his ear, down his neck, stopping at the neckline of his shirt. I reached for the hem and pulled it up and off of him. I stared hungrily at his chest and pulled him to me so that I could continue kissing him. I flicked each of his nipples with the tip of my tongue while running my hands up and down his back. Jack groaned and tried to pull me up from where I had sunk to my knees in front of him. I undid his belt, button and zipper, pulling his pants and boxers off, letting them pool at his feet. He stepped out of them and tried to get me to stand up again.

"Let me do this for you Jack...please?" I begged, looking up in to his eyes.

"Alright." He consented reluctantly. I gripped his erection at the base and ran my hand lightly up and down, brushing my fingertips across the head. Jack's hips bucked in to my hand and I knew he was close. I smirked to myself, proud that I could make him lose control so easily. I tilted my head so that he was positioned in front of my mouth and I placed a kiss at the tip, slowly working my way down the front of his cock, sucking lightly on the spot just below the head that I knew he liked. He groaned and tried to thrust his cock into my mouth. I wrapped my lips around him and making sure that my teeth weren't going to hurt him, I deep-throated him in one swift motion. Jack moaned and thrust against my throat, involuntarily. I bobbed my head up and down his entire length several times while lightly fondling his balls. After only a few minutes he came and I drank down what seemed like a gallon of his seed. Swallowing the last mouthful, I stood up and Jack pulled me to his chest, holding me so hard he practically crushed the life out of me.

"That was amazing." Jack breathed in to my ear and I shivered. "You've never let me finish like that before."

"I know. I wanted to make today special for you." I looked up in to Jack's eyes and realized that he looked like he was going to fall asleep right there. I led him over to the bed and pulled back the covers. He slid in between the sheets and, after taking my clothes off, I lay down next to him. He snuggled up against my side, resting his head in the crook of my neck and was asleep in seconds.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you read it, please review. I like to know what you think...even if you don't like it. Thanks to Lightning8star and Extraho for your kind reviews.**


	14. The End

I felt Jack move against my shoulder and I smiled. "Good morning, sleepyhead." I ran a hand through his hair and he buried his head in my shoulder.

"whtmeist" Jack mumbled.

"What time is it?" I questioned and laughed when he just nodded. "It's almost 9 am. You slept for almost 19 hours." I shook my head in disbelief.

"I'm hungry."

"I would imagine that you would be. I'll make you breakfast." I moved to get out of bed but Jack tightened his hold on my waist, making that impossible. "You have to let me go if you want to eat." He shook his head against my shoulder and held me even tighter. "Jack... I'm going to count to three and then..."

"Then what?" Jack smirked at me, clearly not believing my threat.

"1...2...3" I started tickling him and he let me go, trying to defend himself. I grabbed his wrists in one hand and pinned them above his head, continuing my assault on his waist and ribs.

"I give. You can get up now." Jack giggled as I hit a particularly sensitive spot.

"Too late. I don't want to." I straddled his thighs and leaned down to kiss him. He deepened the kiss, working his hands out of my grip and pulling my head closer to him. I felt him stiffen against my thigh and I smiled. I repositioned over him and impaled myself on him. We both groaned and it only took a few moments of me riding him for us to both cum, sighing each other's name. I got off of him and curled up next to him. I sniffed delicately at his arm pit and then scrunched my nose when I smelled myself. "I think a shower is in order before we do anything else."

I got out of bed and slipped in to a black silk robe that hit me mid-thigh. I walked across the room and into the bathroom. I started the water and while that was heating up, I brushed my teeth and went to the bathroom. I got in to the shower and heard Jack get up, copying my motions-including getting in to the shower. I rolled my eyes in mock frustration. "Jack, you couldn't wait to take a shower of your own, huh?"

"Nope, the company's better in this one." He pulled me to him and kissed my neck, right below my ear. I moaned when he bit down lightly and traced random patterns on my back. He placed a trail of hot, wet kisses from my ear to the end of my shoulder, across my chest and back up the other side of my neck. He bit down on my throat, right above my clavicle and sucked **hard**. He only stopped when he felt that he had marked his territory sufficiently. "There."

"You feel better now?" I glared at him and he smirked at me.

"Much. Now the rest of the world knows you're mine." I kissed him and went back to washing my hair. Finishing, I got out of the shower to let Jack finish up. I put on a pair of jeans and my old redwings sweatshirt. Moving out of the bedroom I noticed that Lexi's car wasn't parked out front and grinned. _Her date must have gone better than she expected._ I made pancakes and sausage for breakfast and Jack showed up just as I set the plates down on the table.

"Impeccable timing...as usual." We both sat down and polished off the food in only a few minutes.

"Do you mind if we go get my rental car today? I kind of need my stuff." Jack got up and washed his plate, putting it in to the dish drainer.

"Sure. I need to go back and make sure that everything is read for the substitute teacher for next week." I got up, washed my plate and grabbed my keys, heading towards the door. "Coming?" Jack followed me out to my car and we got in. It only took about ten minutes before we were at the school. I went inside while Jack transferred his stuff from the rental to the trunk of my car. Quickly making sure that the lesson plan was sitting on my desk, beside the movies that were there in case the kids got too rowdy, I turned the light off and walked out the door...crashing in to a rather soft, leather-clad ...wall? "Jack." I said, looking up in to his eyes. "Sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking."

"It's ok." he said, rubbing the spot on his chest that my head had hit. My cell phone rang and I rushed to answer it, hoping that it might be Lexi.

"Hey."

_Hey. Where are you?_

"At school. making sure that things are ready for this week."

_Did you forget that we were going to leave today?_

"Oh shit. I did. I'm sorry. We'll be there in like 20 minutes." I said as flipped my phone closed. "That was Lexi. We were supposed to leave for Detroit at noon." I fretted, walking towards the exit doors.

"It's ok. It's only 10:30 now so we have plenty of time. Besides, I'll help drive so we can take shifts."

"Thanks. I'm so glad you're here." I stopped walking, turned around and pulled Jack to me, hugging him tightly.

"Me too." He said, returning my hug. We walked out the front doors and got in to our cars. I followed Jack to the rental place and after returning the car we headed back to my place.

"Where have you been?" Lexi demanded as we walked in the door.

"I'm sorry. We had to return Jack's rental car, and I forgot that we said that we were going to leave today. My bad?" I said, hoping that she wouldn't use her formidable temper on me.

Sighing deeply, she nodded. "That's alright. Are you ready to leave?"

"Yeah, I just have to put my stuff in the car and we can go."

In ten minutes we were all comfortably ensconced in my 2001 chevy cavalier and on our way to Detroit. We only stopped three times to get gas and switch driving duties. Jack drove the last leg of the trip and we got to the Mercer's house in only 9 hours, instead of the 11 Google said it was supposed to take.

We got out of the car and walked in the front door, groaning and stretching. Bobby's car was in the driveway but there weren't any signs of life in the house.

"Where is everybody?" Lexi asked. "I thought you said that they were always here." She looked at me curiously.

"Not always. But someone is usually home. Let's get you set up in Jerry's old room and then we can all go to bed." I smiled and led the way towards the basement. It only took a few minutes to get the bed made and Lexi smiled at me appreciatively.

"Thanks Kat. See you in the morning."

"Goodnight." I said as I left, walking up the stairs to Jack's room. I stopped outside his door, listening to him strum random chords on his guitar. I didn't want to disturb him so I went in to the bathroom. I took a hot shower and brushed my teeth, finally ready to go to bed. I knocked on the door and Jack opened it.

"Can I sleep in here tonight?" I smiled sheepishly up at him and he cocked his head at me in confusion.

"Where else would you sleep?"

"I was planning on staying at my old place when we came up here to visit and I didn't want to impose on your sleep."

"I only sleep well when you are here Kat. I'm not letting you sleep anywhere other than next to me." Jack picked me up and laid me down on the bed, next to the wall. He climbed in next to me and I curled up against him, resting my head on his shoulder. We both fell asleep quickly after that.

Lexi couldn't sleep so she went upstairs and poured herself a glass of Jack from the amply supplied bar that she noticed earlier. Sitting down in front of the TV, she turned it on and happened to come across _Friday Night Lights_, one of her favorite movies just starting. She had gotten to the point where the coaches were doing the coin toss when the front door burst open and a man walked in the room.

"I'm tellin' ya Ang, the Redwings will get the Cup this year. I just know it." He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Lexi sitting on the couch. "Who are you and what are you doing on my couch?"

"I'm Lexi and I couldn't sleep."

Bobby stared at her, not comprehending what she had just said. He had had a little too much to drink that night and this wasn't making sense.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm Kat's roommate...Jack, Kat and I all drove up here this afternoon...They're up in Jack's room, sleeping. I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd come up here and watch TV."

"Wait...Kat's here? With Jack? JACK!" Bobby bellowed up the stairs. Lexi jumped, not expecting him to be so loud. They all heard the bedroom door slam open and two sets of feet tromping down the stairs. Jack appeared first, shirtless and buttoning his jeans. Kat was right behind him wearing nothing but a short t-shirt that only covered her ass, stopping about an inch down.

"Hey Bobby. What's all the yelling about?" Jack rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and tried to wake up.

"How come you didn't call me and tell me that you were coming home...and bringing Kat and her roommate to stay here? A little heads up would have been nice." Bobby glared at Jack and Jack bit his lip.

"I'm sorry. I know I should have called but this is my house too and if I want to have my fiance and her roommate over then I'll damn well have them over."

"Your fiance? Kat...wait...what?" Bobby looked from Jack to me and back again.

"He asked me to marry him and I said yes...again." I smiled and Angel laughed.

"That's great Kat. Maybe it'll stick this time?" Angel joked. I saw Jack's jaw clench and his fist tighten as if he wanted to punch something, namely Angel. I wrapped my arm around his waist and grinned ant Angel.

"I'm doing it before he gets a chance to change his mind." I felt Jack relax and the tension evaporated from the room just as quickly as it had appeared.

"Lexi is staying in Jerry's old room if that's alright?" I asked, looking at Bobby.

"Yeah, we aren't using it."

"I think some introductions are in order. Lexi, the loud hot-headed one is Bobby and the tall, cute, quiet one is Angel. Angel, Bobby, this is my roommate Alexia." Lexi smiled nervously and Angel plopped down on the couch next to her.

"You live with Kat? You have to tell us all of her dirty little secrets." Angel winked suggestively and Lexi laughed.

"Not much to tell. Two high school biology teachers living together is really rather boring."

Bobby sat down in a chair across from the couch and stared at Lexi.

"Bobby, be nice. Lexi isn't used to dealing with punks like you." Jack glared at him and Bobby laughed.

"Watch it fairy. I promise I won't bite."

"Who said anything about you being the one doing the biting?" Lexi asked, quirking an eyebrow at him. I coughed hiding my surprise at her attitude. I'd never seen this saucy side of her before.

"We are going back to bed. See ya'll in the morning." I said as I grabbed Jack's hand and led him back up the stairs.

"What was that all about?" Jack asked as I closed the door behind us.

"I think Lexi likes Bobby." I giggled and collapsed on the bed, tears pooling at the corners of my eyes. "He might have just met his match."

"You think she can handle him?"

"We'll just have to wait and see." I patted the bed next o me and Jack laid down. He pulled my shirt off over my head and curled up against me, nestling his head in my neck.

Back downstairs, Lexi and Bobby were still staring at each other and Angel got up off of the couch.

"I'm going to bed." He walked upstairs after neither one acknowledged that he said anything.

"So, um..." Bobby started but then trailed off, staring at her amber eyes.

"Are you going to come over here or are you going to make me do all the work?" Lexi asked.

"Um...what?" Bobby shook his head as if trying to clear it. Instead of answering Lexi stood up and walked over to him. She sat down on his lap and pushed him back in to the chair. She pressed her lips to his and wrapped her arms around his neck. Bobby didn't respond until she went to pull away. He gripped her by the back of her neck and deepened the kiss, their tongues battling for mastery. Lexi moaned and shifted so that she was straddling his lap. She ground her hips against his rapidly growing erection and he groaned.

"Your room or mine?" Bobby asked, breaking off the kiss. She looked in to his dark brown eyes for a moment, thinking.

"Mine, we don't want to wake the whole house up." Bobby stood, lifting her in his arms and carrying her down the stairs. He kicked the door shut behind them...

**The End...**

**Unless of course ya'll want more...let me know what you think and if I get enough good reviews I'll write more. Thanks to Lightning8star and Extraho for your reviews and encouragement.**


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